By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz is reporting that negotiations are complete with the potential opponent for Pacquiao’s next fight on December 8th in Las Vegas, and the only thing that is needed now is Top Rank promoter Bob Arum’s final decision. It’s going to be either Tim Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez, two of Pacquiao’s past opponents. The opponent could be announced on Thursday, September 13th. That’s the word that has been floating around.
Koncz told RingTV “We’re done negotiation. We’ll present everything to Bob, and he will decide what he wants to do.”
Interesting. I thought Pacquiao was supposed to be the one that is picking out his next opponent, but Koncz sure is making it seem as if Arum is the ultimate decider in the choosing.
It’s not all that appealing Pacquiao facing the retreads that Arum has offered up to him. Boxing fans want to see Pacquiao fight someone new instead of seeing the same old Top Rank fighters brought in repeatedly for fights against him. At this point it would be more interesting to see Pacquiao fight someone completely new, even if it meant that the fight would likely be a mismatch. Seeing Pacquiao fight Bradley again would be like watching paint dry.
By Robert Jackson: Now that we’ve gotten Ward/Dawson out of the way, what’s up next is the Martinez/Chavez Jr fight! The winner of this fight could rightfully be in line for a BIG money PPV match-up against the undefeated Andre Ward. An undefeated Chavez Jr facing and undefeated Ward would be the better match-up unless…Martinez puts on a virtuoso performance while beating Chavez Jr.
(Photo credit: Ester Lin/Showtime) By Marc Livitz: Hardcore fans and the so-called purists alike may feel themselves a bit torn this upcoming Saturday evening. Contrary to popular American belief is the fact that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. There’s always been a reason why the weekend which most closely precedes or follows the sixteenth of September is a hot date for the sweet science and the old lady will be wearing her finest pearls this weekend.
By Rob Smith: Angel Garcia, the father and trainer for WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s), believes that Danny can take out the aging 36-year-old former four division world champion Erik Morales (52-8, 36 KO’s) when they fight on October 20th at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York.
By Robert Jackson: Yesterday, I wrote a piece asking the question as to whether Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was just putting on an act for the cameras which showed him ‘slacking off’ while training for his September 15th fight against Sergio Martinez. HBO’s 24/7 docudrama featured Chavez Jr. deliberately missing scheduled training sessions, sleeping in, and not training at all in one case. In fact Chavez Jr’s body didn’t look as toned as it could be to engage in an upcoming professional fight.
By Michael Collins: Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is expected to be making his comeback on November 24th at the MEN Arena, according to the Manchester Evening News. There’s talk of Hatton having met with the British Boxing Board of Control to get licensed to fight. Hatton additionally has lot a lot of weight and this has further fueled speculation that the 33-year-old Hatton will soon be back in the ring. Hatton will be making an announcement this Friday about his plans for the November 24th fight.
By PADRE – Who needs Mayweather and Pacman, when the boxing fans have been spoiled as of late, with various intriguing matchups. Another blockbuster one is coming up this Saturday when Sergio Martinez takes on Julio Chavez Jr. I will cut to the chase and spare you all the scenarios and say that I pick Sergio Martinez to beat Junior decisively. Sergio is a better boxer with great foot work , power and a fighters IQ that outclasses Junior. I honestly think we may be seeing a repeat of Pacman vs Margarito. I just hope that this time someone in Junior’s corner has the sense and decency to stop the onslaught and remember that he still has a future in boxing, if he doesn’t take a battering. We all see that Margarito never recovered from that beating and ended up retiring. There is only one caveat, only one major issue that I see that may cost Sergio the fight. It’s not Juniors size, which I think will actually be a disadvantage if he comes in heavy as Sergio is a nimble fighter, nor is it Juniors chin which is very good but if you chip away at any chin, it eventually crumbles. Nor is it the punching power of Junior as he wings wide shots and Sergio shoots short crisp shots down the pocket and will do so all night. No, it’s the utter disdain that Sergio has for Junior.