Miguel Cotto to fight Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden

Miguel Cotto to fight Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden By Rob Smith: In a shocking move, Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) is saying that he’ll be fighting WBA World light middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO’s) on December 1st at Madison Square Garden in New York. This is kind of a strange move by Cotto, because he could have gotten a much bigger and better paying fight against Manny Pacquiao rather than this. It’s not that Trout isn’t a good fighter, it’s just that he doesn’t have a large fan base at this time.

Speaking on his twitter account earlier today, Cotto said “I officially announce that my fight on December 1st at Madison Square Garden will be with undefeated WBA Super Welterweight Austin Trout.”

Who’d have thought that Cotto would choose Trout. You’d think that Cotto would have been better off waiting on the Saul Alvarez vs. Josesito Lopez results from September 15th and then looking to take on the winner of that fight. A fight between Cotto and Alvarez would be a huge in New York, Texas, Las Vegas or California. It would definitely be a much bigger fight than Cotto-Trout. Is Cotto looking for the safer fight by choosing Trout? You have to wonder, because he could have so much more if he chose Pacquiao or Alvarez or even waiting on a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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Khan likely to have problems whether Roach stays or goes

By Michael Collins: Right now there’s a lot of speculation about whether former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) will be keeping his training Freddie Roach or giving him the boot and finding a new trainer for a fresh start. Khan has lost his last two fights and he can’t afford to lose another bout when he gets back in the ring in December if he wants to remain a television attraction.

Khan has said recently that he wants his trainer Roach to be available to spend more time working with him instead of him having to wait to get Roach in between all the time he spends with his number #1 fighter Manny Pacquiao. It doesn’t look good for Khan in terms of getting his request. If he continues to schedule fights around the same time as Pacquiao, Khan is going to have to accept that he comes second. But nothing likely changes if Khan does decide to dump Roach because he’s not available when he wants him.

Khan’s problems with his chin will continue on whether Roach is the guy or someone else is dug up to train Khan. The issue at hand is Khan’s ability to take hard shots. Roach can’t fix that problem and nor can another trainer. That’s just Khan’s build in limitations. Khan might be a little better if he dumps Roach and finds someone that can teach him to run, hold and use his jab without taking risks. Khan would have to find someone that can teach those skills while at the same time not pushing Khan to mix it up.

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Pacquiao may have to swallow his pride to get Mayweather fight done next year

By Rob Smith: If Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum want to get Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the ring for a big cash fight next year then they’re going to have to play it by Mayweather’s rules by taking the smaller cut, because he no longer sees Pacquiao on the same level as him.

Mayweather told Hot97 FM NY, “Actually, we don’t do the same type of numbers, so how can we split? We don’t draw the same type of money.”

That would suggest that Pacquiao and Arum going to have to back off their request of a 50-50 purse split with Mayweather if they want the fight to get made. It’s still possible that Arum can put the fight together but he and Pacquiao will have to swallow their pride and come in with a much lower figure, perhaps as low as 35 percent of the pie. That’s still more than a bargain for a fighter with four losses and who is coming off of a defeat against Tim Bradley. Pacquiao won’t be able to make that kind of money against anyone else, and he could end up in a bad situation if he loses to the next opponent that Arum lines up for him in December.

In this case, Pacquiao would be better off taking whatever crumbs Mayweather throws him because he won’t be able to bargain at all, period. It’s bad enough right now with Pacquiao losing to Bradley, and the fight drawing only 700,000 PPV buys.

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Arum not sure if Cotto wants Pacquiao fight

By Marcus Richardson: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says he’s not sure if former WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) is interested in fighting his fighter Manny Pacquiao fight now, according to examiner.com. Arum thinks Cotto may go in another direction by taking an easy fight in December rather than taking what could be another tough fight against Pacquiao.

Arum obviously is interested in matching Pacquiao up against Cotto due to the high pay per view numbers that would result from that match-up. The previous Cotto-Pacquiao fight in 2009 drew 1.2 million buys, which is a lot more than Pacquiao’s last fight against Tim Bradley last June. That fight drew only 700,000 PPV buys. However, Arum wants Cotto to face Pacquiao at a catcweight of 150 pounds instead of the full weight for the division. Cotto might be eager to fight Pacquiao in another catchweight fight because their previous fight was also a catchweight fight at 145 lbs and Cotto took a beating.

At this point Cotto is popular enough to where he can’t be easily pressured into things like catchweights, rehydration limits, and glove sizes like he would have been in the past. If there is going to be a Cotto-Pacquiao fight, it’s likely going to be without a catchweight unless Arum can convince Cotto with a high money offer to get him to take the fight at that weight. It will have to be an awfully high offer and I can’t see Arum coming up with enough money to make the fight happen. That’s the bind that Arum and Pacquiao are in.

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Sergio Martinez: I’m going to KO Chavez Jr to avoid getting a bad decision

By Rob Smith: Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) plans on taking the Las Vegas judges out of the equation when he meets the highly popular WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) next month on September 15th in their HBO televised pay per view bout at at the Thomas & Mack Center. The fight goes for $49.99 for boxing fans interested in purchasing it on cable. Martinez feels that he’s going to need to knock Chavez Jr. clean out in order to avoid getting jobbed in this fight. He doesn’t have a lot of faith that the judges will give him, a less popular fighter, the decision.

Martinez said this as quoted by the World Boxing Council website: “I’m preparing to defeat Chavez by knockout in order to avoid a bad decision.”

Although Martinez didn’t say specifically why he felt that he needs to KO Chavez Jr. in order to win, he might be referring to Chavez Jr’s controversial fights with Matt Vanda and Carlos Molina in the past. Chavez Jr. got a draw and a decision over Molina in their two fights in 2005 and 2006, and a lot of boxing fans felt that Chavez Jr. deserved to lose at least one, if not two, of those fights.

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WBC “Welcomes Back David Haye,” Fresh Hopes For Vitali Challenge

By James Slater: The WBC group led by Don Jose Sulaiman has “welcomed back” David Haye; the fighter the organization said would never be granted a fight for their world heavyweight title due to his actions in the infamous Munich brawl with Dereck Chicora – and for going ahead and fighting Chisora in the Luxemburg Boxing Council-sanctioned fight this past July.

The WBC had previously stated that: “any fighter involved in the Haye V Chisora fight, will be banned by the WBC.”

But today, as has been reported by the WBC website, Haye, who had “amicable” talks with the organization this week, is now back in line for a shot at their heavyweight belt.

“The WBC was the first organization in recognizing David as world champion, when he conquered the cruiserweight title in 2007,” a WBC statement read. “Then Haye fought in the heavyweight division, and now he wants a fresh shot against current champion Vitali Klitschko.

“The talk was amicable and David Haye is welcome to return to the WBC.”

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Oscar De La Hoya Says He Thinks About Coming Back “Every Single Day” – Almost Came Back For Return Fight With Felix Sturm

By James Slater: Comeback fever must be in the air; only some fighters are able to resist the irresistible temptation. Right now, we have the very real possibility of former 140-pound king and Manchester, U.K legend Ricky Hatton lacing ‘em up again (even Boxing News, the prestigious trade paper and Boxing Bible in the U.K has Hatton, and his will he won’t he comeback, as a front cover story this week), and Oscar De La Hoya has just revealed to ESPNNewYork that he came oh, so close to coming back himself, this October.

De La Hoya, aged 39 and, like Hatton inactive since being badly and comprehensively beaten by Manny Pacquiao, said he “thinks about coming back every singe day,” and that he began training for a planned rematch with current WBA middleweight champ Felix Sturm, the man he controversially out-pointed over 12-rounds to win the WBO 160-pound belt back in 2004.

Oscar had hoped to push his body through one last training camp and fight Sturm this coming October 20th – as the headline to the Brooklyn card that will instead be topped by Danny Garcia-Erik Morales II.

“I went running, I went training, did that for a few days,” De La Hoya said. “But my body couldn’t handle it. I’m 39, but I’m an old 39. If I have the desire of coming back, I go and work out, and there go those plans.”

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Chavez Jr. looking kind of flabby for Martinez fight

By Rob Smith: With only two weeks to go before their big fight in Las Vegas, WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) is still kind of flabby around the neck and jowls for his fight against Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) on September 15th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. I’m not sure what’s missing from Chavez Jr’s training camp because I’ve never seen him so fat before a fight before. Judging from recent photos taken of him on fightnews.com, Chavez Jr has little double chin going and his face looks flabby like he’s been eating too good.

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The History of Boxing with Emanuel Steward Part IV: Amateur Boxing

“A lot of guys try to emulate him, but there will never be another Pernell Whitaker”—Emanuel Steward

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – With his vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and an amazing track record of success, Emanuel Steward is undoubtedly one of the greatest trainers the sport of boxing has ever seen. In fact Steward has trained and/or managed 41 World Champions, including the reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko. This is Part Four of an ongoing series with Emanuel that will explore past champions, historical fights, mythical match-ups, great rivalries, memorable fighters, and Steward’s own personal experiences as a world class trainer. This edition focuses on theme of amateur boxing. Steward (*pictured to the right, standing over Eddie Gonzalez during the semi-finals for the National Golden Gloves Championship, in Chicago, on March 6, 1963) spoke about his own experiences as an amateur National Champion. He also provided opinions on the American amateur boxing scene, the Cuban program, and various amateur boxers he has both seen and worked with over the years, including: Sugar Ray Leonard, Mark Breland, Floyd Mayweather Junior, Tommy Hearns, George Foreman, Pernell Whitaker, Howard Davis, Ronnie Shields, Roy Jones Junior, and more! Here is what the Hall of Fame trainer had to say:

The Stages of an Amateur Boxer:

Well the stages of a person’s amateur career I think are very important, and it’s something that I refer to in life often now. When you first go into the gym as a kid you start learning how to hold your feet and hands properly, or at least you did then. They don’t even do that nowadays, hardly. Everybody wants to just jump right on the pads now and go pop-pop-pop-pop-pop! But at the time when I came up, you learned how to do everything basically and fundamentally sound. Then you get to where you feel very comfortable doing that. It’s like a game where you can hit a bag or do whatever you’re supposed to do, and block a punch, and punch back. Then when you’re comfortable doing that, all of a sudden the actual boxing starts.

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Carl Froch Eyes Fights With Mack, Bute, Kessler, And Then Possible Retirement – If “The Cobra” Goes 3-0 From Here, Will He Be Hall Of Fame-Worthy?

By James Slater: British warrior and reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-middleweight Carl Froch has not in any way said he will definitely retire after his planned rematches with Lucian Bute and Mikkel Kessler, but the 35-year-old will not be around forever and “The Cobra” has hinted that he would look at going out, on top, if he were to avenge his loss to Kessler next year, after having first taken care of next challenger Yusaf Mack and then, in a contractually-bound return, Bute.

Froch, who says he will not neglect serious training duties for the Nov. 17th defence against former light-heavyweight title challenger Mack, said in an interview with The Sun that a 2013 hometown win over Kessler would be “the pinnacle for me,” and that to finish his career in such a way would be “unbelievable.”

If this is the way Froch goes out, with three more bouts (which he of course feels would be wins) and then retirement at age 36 or 37, would the Nottingham man be Hall of Fame worthy should he quit with a 32-2 record?

Let’s look at Froch’s list of achievements:

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