I give the edge to Floyd Mayweather over Manny Pacquiao because I think his speed negates Pac's speed and also as a counter puncher, he will take Pac out of his game plan and pick him apart similar to how he did to Zab Judah once he got his timing down. Floyd will take Juan Manuel Marquez's game plan and operate it more effectively. And to top it off, he's the best defensive fighter since Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker but I would love to see how he would react to catching one of those lefts square on the button. I think this is the fight Mayweather has to make to shut all the haters up and seal his legacy and I hope the competitor in him wants to match up with the second best fighter in the world and give the fans an exciting fight. But Mayweather saw the same fight we saw and I guarantee you that the butterflies had to get going a bit when he saw the ease at which Manny dissected Cotto. But styles makes fights and I know he also saw something that he could exploit if he made the fight. Logic says Mayweather in 12 but after what I just saw Saturday I will never underestimate the Pacman again. AJ representing Dallas, TX
Leon's Response: Mayweather and Pacquiao is the fight. Other than Shane Mosley, who has some business to tend to with Andre Bero, I don't think there's anybody else out there who can compete with PBF and Pac at welterweight. Mayweather-Pacquiao: Pound For Pound Coming May 2010.....I HOPE.

Press Release: HBO Sports reported today that 1.25 million pay-per-view buys were generated from last Saturday’s WBO welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.  The 1.25 million figure represents the highest performing boxing pay-per-view event in 2009, generating $70 million in pay-per-view revenue.  The figure includes 650,000 buys from cable homes and 600,000 from satellite and telco homes.  A record 110,000 buys from Puerto Rico, Cotto’s home market, are included.  Pacquiao vs. Cotto will be replayed this Saturday, Nov. 21 at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT on HBO.  The 12-round TKO triumph by Pacquiao marked his seventh world title in as many different weight classes. Pacquiao-Cotto will be replayed on Sunday, November 22nd at 10 a.m. and Monday, November 23rd at 11:40 p.m. and other times as well.

Press Release: The great “Smokin’” Joe Frazier has joined a growing list of confirmed boxing legends attending the Dec. 11-13 “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” (WGEB) festivities, highlighted by an awards dinner and a U.S. vs. The World pro boxing show at The Paris Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas.

Press Release: The two Europeans boxers – victorious over their American opponents in the first round of the Super Six World Boxing Classic – predict Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler will beat Andre “S.O.G.” Ward in the final Group Stage 1 matchup this Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. live on Showtime (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

Press Release: Mikkel Kessler's promoter Wilfried Sauerland is extremely unhappy that two of the three judges as well as the referee for this weekend's Super Six tournament bout were chosen from challenger Andre Ward's home state, California. WBA champion Mikkel Kessler has traveled from Denmark to Oaklnad, California to face Ward. Sauerland told the press that Ward's promoter, Dan Goossen, "has done a great job to get his fighter three fights at home [in Showtime's Super Six tournament but] needless to say, we will not accept his friends and colleagues judging this fight, so he better starts moving because it takes a while to bring in new judges. The WBA has written a strong letter to the Californian commission that the choice of judges is unacceptable but the Californian commission has been somewhat hard to reach. The WBA has been trying to contact them, sending faxes and everything. If this issue is not sorted, we can have a Super Six fight, but Mikkel´s world title will not be on the line.” UPDATE: The California Athletic Commission has reportedly replaced one of the local judges with Michael Hook of Sweden, meaning the official scoring panel will consist of a Californian, a South African and a Swede.

Press Release: After a whirlwind journey that led him to the top of the boxing world on October 31st, the night he took the IBF bantamweight title from Joseph Agbeko, Yonnhy Perez is enjoying the fruits of his labor while being celebrated back home in his country of Colombia all week. The week begins for Perez on November 19th, as WBA President Gilberto Mendoza recognizes Perez as a Colombian hero and invites him to the general assembly of the organization’s 88th convention in Medellin.

Press Release: When heavyweight Kevin "Kingpin" Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KOs)steps into the ring on December 12th to challenge Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs) for Klitschko's WBC title, he will not only be fighting for himself, but fighting for the United States."Bringing the heavyweight championship back to America is more important to me than anything," stated Johnson. "For the entire 20th Century there wasn't a bigger prize in all of sports than being the heavyweight champion of the world. Since the Europeans took over the heavyweight division, boxing lost some of its appeal."

Press Release: A little more than eight months since undergoing knee surgery, UFC lightweight Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon (18-4, 5 KOs, 13 submissions) is fully recovered and anxious to get back into The Octagon. Lauzon, star of The Ultimate Fighter 5 television reality show, had ACL surgery and his meniscus repaired on his right knee March 6th. He is tentatively scheduled to return to UFC action in early January.

How come people keep saying Manny Pacquiao is on steroids? I know he worked with a guy named Trevor Graham who was linked to the Marion Jones steroid case. But that's not enough for me. Just because he turned pro at 106 pounds does men he's on steroids. He was 16 years old and he's from a third world country. I bet big Floyd [Mayweather, Sr.] won't tell people his son was also a flyweight at 16 the only difference is he was a amatuer. Its natural for a man to put on 3 to 4 pounds of mass a year. So what's the deal? Can you shed light on any of these steroid rumors.
Leon's Response: My first response would be because people fear what they don't understand. Secondly, nobody has ever seen anything like this, so there's going to be speculation and borderline hate. Pacquaio walked Cotto down and destroyed him, two fights after giving Oscar the beating of his life and one fight after concussing Ricky Hatton in four minutes. Many people thought he was going to lose each of those three fights and each time he's looked more and more dominant. A victory over Mayweather, would make Manny Pacquiao the greatest fighter I've EVER seen. Mayweather certainly has more to lose by fighting Pacquiao than Pacquiao does fighting Mayweather.

Press Release: Twenty months since her last fight and eight months after she became a mother for the first time, former world champion Jaime “The Hurricane” Clampitt starts her comeback Friday night in “Autumn Classic” at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I.  Clampitt (19-4-1, 7 KOs) won a ten-round decision March 14, 2008 at Twin River against Belinda Laracuente for the IWBF lightweight title. This past March 17 on St. Patrick’s Day – appropriately enough considering this show’s Irish theme – Jaime gave birth to her daughter, Neyla. Clampitt faces Rachel Clark (4-2-1, 3 KOs) in the six-round, junior welterweight co-feature.

Press Release: Yuri Foreman unanimously defeated former champion Daniel Santos to win the WBA junior middleweight championship. The fight took place last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Yuri dominated the fight, scoring two knockdowns on his way to the victory. All three judges gave the decision to Yuri by wide margins. Yuri Foreman is the first Jewish champion since 1932 [EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a disputed point as Mike Rossman, a WBA light heavyweight champion in the late 1970s is considered by many to be the last Jewish world champion]. Foreman is also the first Israeli boxing world champion in history and the the 132nd world champion out of Gleason's Gym. Gleason's Gym congratulates him!

Press Release: WBC Super Middleweight Champ Carl “The Cobra” Froch says he’ll be keeping a close eye on proceedings in Oakland, California this weekend as the final bout in Group Stage 1 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic takes place between Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward.  “I’m hoping that Kessler wins because then he’ll still have the WBA belt. I’m fighting him in my next fight in the Super Six so if he beats Ward then it means that our fight becomes a massive WBC and WBA unification clash and I can get my hands on his belt.”

Press Release: Junior middleweight Sechew “Iron Horse” Powell (25-2, 15 KOs) plans to take full advantage of the exposure and cache associated with headlining a December 12th boxing show at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, as part of the “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” promotion that weekend at the same venue. Powell (25-2, 15 KOs), fighting out Brooklyn, leads the U.S. team versus The World in team scoring competition against Brazilian knockout specialist Antonio “Mesquitinha Nejo” Mesquita (35-1, 27 KOs) in the ten-round main event.

Press Release: On Saturday November 21st, Providence, Rhode Island's Demetrius Andrade (8-0, 6KO) will be holding his inaugural "Knock Out Hunger" turkey drive at the West End Community Center in downtown Providence. Andrade is teaming up with the Community Center to assist needy families this Thanksgiving and holiday season.

As he prepares to challenge for Amir Khan's WBA junior welterweight championship, undefeated Dmitriy Salita will appear on Last Call with Carson Daly on the night of November 18th (which is technically 1:35am on November 19th). According to Christina Starzak of NBC Universal, on the talk show appearance, "we are basically telling his story, an up-and-coming boxer fighting for a title who is also an Orthodox Jew. We hope to highlight his unique story which retells the classic American dream of rags to riches." Salita, who fights Khan in England on November 5th, might not agree that he has acheived "riches" just yet, but his story has already inspired a full-length documentary entitled "Orthodox Stance."

GL:  Congratulations on your FirePower telecast. Can you give us some thoughts on the fights?  "It was terrific, and the production in the arena was unbelievable, with the new innovation of a cone above the ring.  The Pacquiao-Cotto fight, I thought, was fascinating.  Until Manny broke Miguel down, it was a very competitive fight.  It probably should have been stopped earlier.  It was a really terrific fight.  I was very pleased with my man Yuri Foreman's [WBA 154-pound title-winning] performance against Daniel Santos."

When the proverbial envelope was opened from the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight, the winner is, in fact, everybody.  Who are all these winners? Glad you asked, here’s a list. Manny Pacquiao:   This was not just a big win for Manny, it was a transformative one. He has now ascended from superstar to icon.  This one time 106 pound fighter beat a genuine 147 pound champion who has skills and power.  He took  some very big welterweight punches to both the body and head, continued his reinvention into a brilliant boxer-puncher, and did it all with a panache and style that only great athletes can summon up.  But unlike some great athletes, he manages to do it without even a shred of arrogance.  He has won over the whole world. He is a true international champion.

This Saturday night, former boxer and current trainer “Iceman” John Scully will be inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame. Past living inductees (at the time of the inductions) have included boxing greats such as Willie Pep and Marlon Starling. Although he challenged for a world title, Scully did not reach the heights that Pep and Starling reached, but taking his entire contribution to the sport into account (his work as a pro trainer and serving as a mentor to many young amateurs), Scully richly deserves a plaque on the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame wall at Mohegan Sun right next to the “Will o’ the Wisp” and “Moochie.”

Press Release: On November 27th, Delvin Rodriguez (24-3-2, 14 KOs) will travel to Poland to face on Rafal "Braveheart" Jackiewicz (34-8-1, 18 KOs) in an IBF welterweight eliminator. The bout, scheduled for twelve rounds, will take place in Belk, Poland. Rodriguez is coming off a highly entertaining, split decision loss to Isaac Hlatshwayo this past August for the vacant IBF championship at 147 pounds. While Rodriguez is looking to rebound off the loss, Jackiewicz will be looking to keep his nineteen-bout, four-year win streak alive. "I am pleased that Delvin is getting another opportunity to become the mandatory challenger. I thought that Delvin won both fights against Hlatshwayo (the two first battled to a majority draw in November of last year)," stated Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. When you take the judge's scorecards over 24 rounds, only one scorecard separates Delvin from being the [IBF] champion. Hopefully Delvin will soon have an opportunity to fight once again for the coveted IBF World Championship. First and foremost Delvin must take care of business in Poland. Jackiewicz is a very skilled fighter, so Delvin knows he can't look past him. He hasn't lost in over four years and he will have a whole country behind him fight night. I can tell you though that Delvin has a very bad taste left in his mouth and he is hungrier than ever to get another shot at the championship and promises he won't leave it to the judge's scorecards this time around." Rodriguez vs. Jackiewicz will be promoted by Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing in association with Bullit Knockout Promotions.

Press Release: Five days before they collide in the first Super Six World Boxing Classic Group Stage 1 bout in America, WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler of Denmark and undefeated Andre “S.O.G” Ward of Oakland participated in a free public workout Monday at King’s Gym in Oakland, California.

Press Release: Star Boxing's December 3rd show will be shown live on the nationally televised Versus Network.  The event will take place at the Grand Ballroom at New York's Manhattan Center, and will feature Star Boxing's light welterweight "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis (22-3-2, 10 KOs) taking on Tim "Pit Bull" Coleman (16-1-1, 4 KOs). The card will also feature a battle between welterweights "The New" Ray Robinson (11-0, 4 KOs) and three-time national golden gloves champion, Brad Solomon (8-0, 3 KOs). Robinson vs. Solomon is scheduled for six rounds.

Press Release: Puerto Rican great Carlos Ortiz, 4-time world champion in two weight classes, is still fighting but now it’s for global votes in the Lightweight Division of the “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” (WGEB) promotion.

Press Release: Unbeaten junior welterweight Danny O’Connor fights Friday night for the first time as a professional in Rhode Island. O’Connor (9-0, 3 KOs), a 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate from Framingham (MA), provides chief support on the undercard against James Hope (4-2, 4 KOs) in a six-round bout.

Press Release: LAS VEGAS – Two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion John “The Quietman” Ruiz is a promotional free agent for the first time this century as he looks ahead to his 12th world title fight, mandated by the WBA, next year against new champion David “Hayemaker” Haye.

Press Release: Former Two-Division World Champion Bernard Hopkins (Right) poses with Former Heavyweight World Champion "Smokin'" Joe Frazier (Left) and Philadelphia Flyers Great Dave "The Hammer" Schultz (Center) on November 16, 2009 at the Flyers hockey game against the New Jersey Devils at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Hopkins made an appearance at the game while finishing preparations for his December 2, 2009 bout against Enrique Ornelas at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia which will be televised live on VERSUS.

Press Release: As a nation, we honored the men and women of the Armed Services with the observance of Veteran's Day on Wednesday, November 11th.  The people who defend our freedom embody a fighter's spirit-- they are full of courage, discipline, and passion.  In recognition of this fighting spirit and their great service to our country, tickets for Bernard Hopkins' Philadelphia bout vs. Enrique Ornelas are being offered at a discount of 20 percent off to those with a current or past military identification (limit of eight tickets per ID).  Philadelphia's Hopkins, fighting in his hometown for the first time since 2003, wants to ensure that these men and women are recognized and that they have an opportunity to see a great fight. Tickets sale now exclusively through ComcastTIX on line at ComcastTIX.com, by calling 1-800-298-4200 or in person at the Liacouras Center box office.

Press Release: WORCESTER, Mass.  – Undefeated Dominican sensation Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez, rated No. 13 by the NABA, headlines Thursday night’s pro boxing card in Rochester (NY).

Rodriguez (12-0, 8 KOs), fighting out of Worcester (MA), takes on veteran super middleweight Brian “The Assassin” Norman (17-9, 5 KOs) in the 8-round main event.

Press Release: ST. PETERSBURG , Russia —Former two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev felt compelled today to post comments on his company’s Website (www.box-way.ru) regarding his decision to agree to make an optional defense of his crown against David Haye in Nuremberg , Germany , which Haye won by majority decision.

Press Release: When DiBella Entertainment (“DBE”) and Resnick Productions (“RP”) team up to present War at the Armory this Thursday, November 19, at the Main Street Armory in Rochester , NY , it will be the continuation of a relationship that extends far beyond just one event. Thursday’s show will be the first in a four card series to take place at the Main Street Armory, and will feature a triumvirate of talent recently signed to co-promotional deals by DBE and RP.

Salvador Sanchez II, who made his successful Las Vegas debut two weeks ago, and also fought on the Vitali Klitschko-Chris Arreola undercard at the Staples Center, is now being sought after by several A-list promoters who want to sign the nephew of his late great namesake, Salvador Sanchez, the former featherweight champion of the world.

GL: Can you give us some thoughts on the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight? "I thought Pacquiao looked spectacular. I was very shocked that he was able to come in there and do this against Cotto. I was sitting on the sidelines with Mayweather Sr and he was complaining that Pacquaio had to be doing something extra to be able to walk Cotto down like that. Other than that, I think Pacquaio looked great. His speed, his power, he attacked him and he did good."

Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, and now Miguel Cotto…  If there was any doubt that Manny Pacquiao is the pound-for-pound king, it was erased Saturday night when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the 12th round.  Before the fight, a lot of critics believed that Pacquiao was overrated.  They maintained that his wins over De La Hoya and Hatton weren’t significant accomplishments, that he doesn’t belong in the 140’s, and that he was biting off more than he can chew by facing Miguel Cotto.  And now that he has silenced his critics once again, one can only hope that he will get the credit he deserves.

Greg Talk to me.  Pacquiao is a beast!!!  OK so Cotto has always had a suspect chin but c'mon he's been in there and taken big punches from some of the best in there.  Remember Margarito didn't knock him out he quit to avoid further punnishment and went 12 good hard rounds against Mosley to win a close decision(could have gone either way but you can't dispute the decision for Cotto).  So what does this say about Pacquiao, fighting a guy who stood in there for 12 to eeke out a win against the man in the division and fought 11 rounds until he had nothing left against a guy who was seen as a beast beating everybody into submission with possibly(if he did it once i'm sure it wasn't the first time) loaded gloves outboxing him for a good portion of the fight that after the 5th or 6th round Cotto looked not only tired but like he wanted to give up.  After that he blatantly ran for the rest of the fight.  A lot of people like to discredit Pacquiao's fights but now you can't.  Plain and simple he fought a full fledge welterweight who can box and who can punch and he took him apart and took his heart and I don't want to hear about him making Cotto come down to 145 because you know damn right well he didn't weigh anywhere near that 10 minutes after the weigh in and Pacquiao probably came into the fight at about 147 tops(I missed the unofficial weigh in).  I am thoroughly impressed, period.  Tony-Philly

Leon's Response: He's an animal the likes of which I've never seen. I don't even know who to compare him to or what to compare his recent run with. I've never seen anything like this kid.  But am I the only one other than Pacquiao's strength coach who thinks Michael Koncz is a straight up douche?

Junior middleweight contender Ishe Smith suffered an ankle injury over the weeked that has forced him to pull out of his November 21 bout with Gennday Golovkin. Remember where you heard it first!

Press Release: This Saturday, HBO Sports presents a replay of manny Pacquaio vs. Miguel Cotto (10:00 p.m. ET/ PT). The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will call all the action. The replay will be available in HDTV.   Manny Pacquiao, the sport’s reigning pound-for-pound king, and welterweight title-holder Miguel Cotto met in a Nov. 14th mega-fight carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View. Pacquiao scored a 12th round TKO victory.

Press Release: LAS VEGAS- It began as a war of words fought on internet websites and on Saturday, Jan. 30, welterweight superstars Sugar Shane Mosley and Andre Berto will take their dispute from cyberspace to the ring at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev..  The 12-round bout will air live on HBO's World Championship Boxing and will determine once and for all the King of the 147-pound weight class.

Since the beginning of HBO’s 24/7, with the inaugural bout of Mayweather-De La Hoya in the summer of 2007, most of what the fans have been treated to come fight time has been either a tactical yet boring fight, or an uneven blowout.  Of course, there have been some brutal knockouts.  Mayweather-De La Hoya was a tactical, boring fight that lacked the real action main stream fans were hoping for.  Mayweather-Hatton was a one sided shellacking that ended in a 9th round knockout.  Pacquiao-De La Hoya was a brutal ugly destruction in which Oscar didn’t even seem to land a punch.  (Although, since the fight, many have come to believe that Oscar’s body rejected the attempt to make 147 lbs and caused the aging legend to throw up for days prior to the fight.)  Pacquiao-Hatton was a whole 4 minutes of embarrassment until Pacquiao delivered one of the most brutal knockouts ever seen.  Mayweather-Marquez was a tactical but also embarrassing one sided affair in which Marquez might not have even won a round.  Tonight however, Pacquiao and Cotto both have a tendency to brawl and both have skills that should seemingly match up well.  Perhaps the skill and excitement that both fighters possess will create the modern day classic that everyone is looking for and cement the hype that comes with the 24/7 series.

GL: Boxingtalk getting the exclusive with Andre Berto as he's about to board a plan heading to Vegas. Tell us all about your big fight with Shane Mosley. "I'm on the plane and I'm ready to go enjoy the festivities over there in Vegas. I'm excited and this is definitely the opportunity that I've been waiting for, for a long time. This right here is going to be the kick-off."

Contender Semi-Finalist Akinyemi "AK-47" Laleye and advisor Greg Leon have agreed to a mutual release. Laleye joins, Elvir Muriqi and Steve Forbes as recent subtractions to Leon's stable of talent. Remember where you heard it first!

GL:  Can you give us some thoughts on your performance, and tell us what you think went wrong?  "My performance was a dissapointing one.  I expected Dawson to run, but I did  not believe that he could run faster going backward than I could running forward.  He proved me wrong.  He was able to move around and run, and avoid contact.  It created a boring fight, I believe it was the first boring fight of my career.  The same crowd that applauded monstrously, as he was arriving to the ring, are the same ones who were booing him during and after the fight. I feel that the respect that they had for me has grown to where he was trying to fight me the first time and this time, he was fighting me to try and survive. It was his hometown and he thought the people would support him, but they turned on him regardless."

Miguel Cotto will win, but Floyd Mayweather is still pound for pound #1 regardless if Manny Pacquiao wins, loses or draws, It matters less about the outcome of this fight as to who is the MAN. Lets be realistic, take care. –Anthony Muhammad  Linder’s Response: I consider Floyd Mayweather to be the best fighter in the world, but many people, including myself, give the #1 position to Manny Pacquiao because of his activity and recent accomplishments.  Floyd sat on the sidelines for almost two years and then he came out and dominated a fighter who last fought two weight classes below him.  There’s no question that Floyd is a great fighter, but he can’t take credit for what he doesn’t do and he still has a lot to prove since coming out of retirement.

The premier poacher of Boxingtalk talent on the Internet, Boxingscene, published a two paragraph blip explaining that Warriors Boxing is alive and well. Perhaps things have changed in the last week or so thanks to that Glen Johnson check, but the facts ARE that Margules was told that the boxing department at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino would cease to exist, that Margules had to hand over his company car keys, and that Margules has been scrambling to align his most prominent talent with other promoters. Unfortunately logical questions don't pop into gullible Rick Reeno's mind, as quickly as those annoying pop-up windows do on his difficult-to-read site.  Somebody more in tune with how this business works might have considered his source and asked some probing questions before turning himself into the new Warriors Boxing Publicist. More facts: Leon Margules gave Lou DiBella half of Glen Johnson for nothing, well damn near nothing, and certainly nothing from DiBella's pocket. He's also recently aligned Edison Miranda with Dan Goossen and Juan Urango with Groupe Yvon Michel, not moves usually made by someone looking to keep a serious company going. But now that the Seminole Tribe's checkbook is out of the equation, how are they alive and well?  Margules may have put together a team of investors but he cannot spend the casino's money. Purchasing the corporate name Warriors at a going-out-of-business price will ensure that Leon Margules STILL EATS ON THESE FIGHTERS in 2010 and beyond. And again, certainly that six-figure Glen Johnson check has nothing to do with this RECENT development.

Manny Pacquiao –300
Miguel Cotto +220
Heading into one of the biggest fights of the year, world junior welterweight campion Manny Pacquiao is listed as a 3-1 favorite over WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.  Pacquiao is coming off blistering stoppages over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.  Since his loss to Margarito, Miguel Cotto has a knockout win over the outmatched Michael Jennings and a split decision win over one of the toughest boxers in the world, Joshua Clottey.  Cotto is by far the most powerful fighter Manny Pacquiao has ever faced while Pacquiao is clearly the fastest fighter Miguel has ever faced.  Cotto is 34-1 with 27 knockouts and Manny Pacquiao is 49-3 with 37 knockouts. source: Betus.com

Press Release: Super middleweight “Irish” Joey McCreedy (11-3-1, 6 KOs), fights his first “name” opponent,  Otis “Triple OG” Griffin (20-6-2, 8 KOs), in the main event November 20th on the Irish-themed “Autumn Classic” pro boxing show, presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc. (CES), at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I. McCreedy, the best boxer out of Lowell, Massachusetts since “Irish” Micky Ward, is coming in fresh off of a first-round stoppage of Eddie Caminero on Sept. 4th. Now he steps up in class for an eight rounder against Griffin, who has been in against two world champions, Danny Green and Jeff Lacy.

Press Release:  Bronx's Maureen Shea (13-2, 7 KOs) has been added to Star Boxing's upcoming, "Hustler Boxing" card on Thursday December 3rd at the Manhattan Center in New York City. Shea will square off against Jenna "Cowgirl" Shiver (9-4-1, 2 KOs) for the Interim WBA female 122-pound title. The bout was made possible when Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin pulled out of his scheduled bout due to his appendix suddenly rupturing and having to be removed. The 28-year-old Shea, who has lost her last two bouts, is best known for serving as the lead sparring partner for Hillary Swank when Swank prepared for her role in the Academy Award winning movie Million Dollar Baby. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or by calling the Star Boxing office at 718 823-2000.

Press Release: Tomorrow’s official weigh-in will be hosted by Emmy Award winning actor Jeremy Piven, star of HBO’s hit series “Entourage.”  Open to the public, doors open at 1:00 p.m. with the weigh-in beginning at 2:30 p.m.  Mainstream websites will be streaming it live for 30 minutes, beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT.

Press Release: After his big fight vs. Miguel Cotto,  Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Manny Pacquiao plans to head over to the Mandalay Bay Events Center to perform a live post-fight concert with his MP Band. Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, the winner of six world titles in as many different weight divisions ranging from 112 to140 pounds, and star of the upcoming superhero action motion picture” WAPAKMAN,” scheduled for release in January 2010, has already had two albums go Platinum in the Philippines.  PacMan and the MP Band played a similar gig at the Beach at Mandalay Bay following his two-round knockout victory of defending junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton last May.

Press Release:2008 US Olympic alternate Shawn “Showtime” Porter will lead superstar Manny Pacquiao into the ring Saturday night for his showdown with WBO Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.

Press Release: Before legendary Philadelphia warrior Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins steps into the ring in his hometown to face Enrique Ornelas at the Liacouras Center at Temple University on Wednesday, December 2nd, local boxers will battle it out on the undercard. In the co-feature, junior welterweight Danny Garcia from Philadelphia will fight for the first time in front of his local fans as a professional when he puts his 14-0 record on the line in a ten-round bout against Mxico's Enrique Colin (23-4-3).  Other local favorites in action will be Karl Dargan, Teneal Goyco and debuting Julian Williams.  Rounding out the show will be Newark, New Jersey's Mike Perez and Fort Myers, Florida's Derrick Wilson. Tickets are available for purchase through ComcastTIX on line at ComcastTIX.com, by calling 1-800-298-4200 or in person at the Liacouras Center box office.

Press Release: As part of the attempt to publicize Pacquiao-Cotto, Events On Demand will show the following content (check local system guide for content location): Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao - a replay of the complete fight from Dec. 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Free. Miguel Cotto vs. Joshua Clottey - a replay of the complete June 13, 2009 fight from NYC’s Madison Square Garden. Free. Fight Preview Show - The 30 minute show from HBO Pay-Per-View follows Pacquiao and Cotto as they prepare for Saturday’s fight, now on cable’s Events On Demand. Free (also in Spanish).  Weigh-In - On Saturday, Nov. 14th, the Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto weigh-in show will be available. Free.

Press Release: TKO Boxing Promotions has announced the signing of Las Vegas based amateur Bradley Blankenship to an exclusive promotional contract. The 20 year-old is a former standout running back for Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas. After graduating in 2007, he enrolled at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas where he joined the boxing team and quickly lost forty pounds to become a middleweight, with hopes of campaigning at welterweight. In just two years, Blankenship has become one of the most accomplished amateur boxers in Nevada and the most popular. Earlier this year he won the Nevada State Golden Gloves and is currently ranked #3 in the country by USA Boxing. Said manager Cameron Dunkin, “Bradley’s only had 33 amateur fights over the last two years but he’s got an excellent pro style. He’s dropped down nicely to about 160, but he’ll fight as a welterweight as a professional.” Stated Chris Middendorf, CEO and Director of Boxing Operations for TKO Boxing, "One of our primary goals at TKO has been to create a boxing series in Las Vegas to showcase our best young talent. Bradley Blankenship will certainly be one of the centerpieces of our plans there.  Blankenship will continue with his studies at UNLV where he is majoring in Finance and is currently working with trainer Kenny Adams and conditioning coach Ray Franklin.

Press Release: King's Promotions is closing out the decade with a bang as it returns to the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania with a professional boxing/mixed martial arts hybrid show on December 4th. King's Promotions hosted the first hybrid event in May, resulting in the company's most successful event in it's 14-year history. In the main event, heavyweight prospect Travis Kauffman returns to action in front of his hometown against an opponent to be named later. Kauffman, 18-1 (15 KO), is coming off a contested loss to Tony Grano on Shobox: The New Generation in his last fight and is eager to rebound with a solid victory.

Press Release: LAS VEGAS – Puerto Rican power-punching great Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gomez, 3-time world champion in three weight classes, leads the global voting process in the Bantamweight Division of the “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” (WGEB) promotion.

GL:  What's the latest with Joel Casamayor? Can you give us some thoughts on your last performance, an eight-round decision over Jason Davis?  "I know it wasn't one of my best performances.  I was off for one of the longest times in my career, since last September.  The first couple of rounds were a little rusty.  From about the 4th round on, I started getting my rhythym.  It's good to be back, and I'm not done working."

On the subject of David Haye, you may not be the culprit but the amount of negative posts from BoxingTalk about Haye and the fight is disgusting. For months and months I've read articles complaining about how the heavyweight division is poor, how they are robotic, have no personality and are not entertaining.  I even read an article which said the authorities should scrap the division and start a super heavyweight division! Now finally we get a fighter with the skills to at least make the division watchable, he has the personality and entertains, and all you guys can do is complain that the decision was bad and that Haye put in a poor performance. Yes i agree the fight wasnt entertaining to say the least but cmon Haye fought with a broken hand and with a disadvantage of seven stones???! Give a man his credit! Nikolai Valuev was champ but he never once mentioned unifying the division not even in his sleep, so why when haye shows some ambition he gets negative press?. Its so poor from you guys to do that, you wish for the HW division to improve and when someone does come along you then support the guy you was slating before. Please explain to me why this is, im curious to know??? Leon's Response: He's a boxer. If you say he's entertaining, but the fight wasn't, how exactly does he entertain us?

Press Release: Following are highlights from Tuesday’s national conference call hyping the first Super Six World Boxing Classic in the United States on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. live on Showtime (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). The matchup between WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler and hometown undefeated hero Andre “S.O.G” Ward is a scheduled 12-rounder and also a first-round matchup in Group Stage 1.

Press Release: After controversy, heated conversations and negotiations were settled, former lightweight champion Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz and former IBF junior welterweight Champion Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi met face-to-face yesterday to announce the December 12th rematch of their exciting August 22nd bout.  Diaz and Malignaggi will square off on neutral ground at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois in a twelve-round junior welterweight bout that will be televised live on HBO's Boxing After Dark. Tickets for the highly anticipated rematch go on sale today at ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-312-226-5800, toll free at 1-800-745-3000 and at the UIC Pavilion Box Office (open Thursday and Friday from 9 am - 4 pm CT).

Boxingtalk has been informed that light heavyweight king "Bad" Chad Dawson, while shopping at Best Buy, encountered a ridiculous incident this evening. Dawson, as we understand it, spent $8000.00 or so at a local Best Buy, which our source informed us was fully employed by caucasians, accused Chad of attempting to purhcase approximately half of his purchase with counterfeit bills. Dawson, a mult-millionaire, will likely and rightfully, walk away from this sad commentary unscathed. There will be much more to follow, until then, remember where you heard it first!

Boxingtalkers shouldn't be surprised if the December 12th WBC heavyweight championship bout between Vitali Klitschko and Kevin Johnson is aired on HBO via same-day tape delay along with the live telecasts of the Juan Diaz-Paul Malignaggi bout and shamefully weak Victor Ortiz-Antonio Diaz bout.  The latter two bouts will take place in Chicago, while Klitschko-Johnson will take place about five hours earlier in Switzerland. Remember where you heard it first!

BA: Congratulations on your recent victory, a second-round stoppage of Ubaldo Hernandez. Can you give us some thoughts on your performance? "I think I put on a great peformance, I did what I had to do and took care of my business. Now that I'm back focused on boxing the way I should be, I don't see anybody at 140 pounds going the distance with me, you know what I'm saying?  The other guys at 140 could take that however they want to, and if it's somebody who think we're cool with each other, nah homie, I'm talking about you too."

Edited Press Release: After seeing the prime of his career gutted with just five fights in the last five years, WBA 154-pound titlist Daniel Santos (32-3-1, 23 KOs) will defend his title against mandatory challenger Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs) on the Pacquiao-Cotto pay-per-view card on Saturday from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Santos has achieved an amateur record of 117-3 that culminated with an Olympic bronze medal in the Atlanta games of 1996 and three-world titles as a professional, once at welterweight and twice at the 154-pound limit.  “I want to shine on the big stage,” Santos said.  “Saturday night is my chance to fulfill the truly great promise of my boxing career.” Despite the WBA's rules that should guarantee him a mandatory defense every nine months, the Don King promoted Santos has been inactive since winning the title from Joachim Alcine in July of 2008.

Saturday’s WBA heavyweight title bout between David Haye and Nikolai Valuev was promoted as “David vs. Goliath,” but after 36 of the dullest minutes in sport concluded it should have been billed “Fish and Chips.” Not word playing on the popular English delicacy, but rather referring to Haye putting on a stinker display and still winning a championship. After months of “Hayemaker” hype, Haye and Valuev put on a putrid performance worthy of being called the second worst title fight of the decade. The only most uneventful match up that can top this dubious distinction was the 2007 Wladimir Klitchko and Sultan Ibragamov lowdown at Madision Square Garden .

So you think David Haye got a gift [majority decision] against Nikolai Valuev? You should watch the fight with the sound off and if you still think that, then you don't have a clue what you are looking at. Although that wouldn't be anything new. Yes, Haye could have countered more after making Valuev miss but he hardly got hit all night long. He clearly won the fight after a great performance. For once somebody didn't get robbed in Germany, it should be celebrated. Regards, Adam 
Leon's Response: I know Haye got a gift over Valuev. Should I be really be celebrating the decision? Do you think the Germans behind Valuev have future options on Haye? I'm here to tell you they do. It was an awesome job of trading up. Haye's next two fights will be an action packed barn burner with John Ruiz and then the Valuev rematch. Adam, you must be the same guy who think Andre Dirrell won the fight against Carl Froch.

Boxing reaches the mainstream when the best fight the best and it doesn’t get much better than Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto.  The Pacquiao-Cotto fight this Saturday night is without a doubt the most meaningful fight of the year, if not the past few years.  After Pacquiao’s demolition of Ricky Hatton in May of this year and Cotto’s decision win over Joshua Clottey in June, the winner of this fight would have to be considered the “Fighter of the Year.”  Pacquiao has the Philippines behind him and Cotto is the pride of Puerto Rico .  And with their countries behind them, it gives them the extra incentive to let it all hang out.  Plus, this fight sets the stage for an even bigger fight, as the winner will likely face Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at some point in 2010.

PRESS RELEASE: MIGUEL COTTO:  The camp is running very good, first in Puerto Rico and then in Tampa.  Now we move to Vegas for this week and the next one.  Right now, we are just getting ready for the night of November 14th.

David Haye W12 Nikolai Valuev... David Haye is the new WBA heavyweight champion after a points victory over Nikolai Valuev. Fighting in front of a sell-out crowd of 8,000 fans in Nuremberg, Haye was ahead 116-112 on two cards, with the third judge ruling the contest a 114-114 draw. The clash drew a peak market share of 40.5 % of the German television market (8.4 million viewers) on the German free television  network, ARD. “It's a dream come true,” Haye enthused afterwards. “I've fought the biggest heavyweight champion of all time and caught him with big shots. My speed was key tonight. He has a granite chin and took my punches. I'm a guy who says what he thinks and sometimes that upsets people but I'm full of respect for Valuev, he showed he can take some big shots.” source: sauerland event

On the undercard in Nuermberg, Germany, the WBA's mandatory heavyweight contneder, John Ruiz, returned to the win colum when the corner of opponent Adnan Serin threw in the towel during the seventh round. Ruiz controlled the bout throughout but suffered a four-stitch cut due an early clash of heads. Next up for Ruiz should be a title challenge against new WBA champion David Haye... Scandinavian heavyweight hopeful Robert Helenius (10-0) stopped Taras Bidenko (26-4), who retired after the third round with a bad cut... Cruiserweight Alexander Frenkel (20-0) stopped faded former IBF titlist Kelvin Davis in the first round (24-11-3) ... Gifted Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev (3-0) also clinched a points
victory over Gbenga Oloukun (17-3), former conqueror of Lamon Brewster... ex-WBO heavyweight titleholder Sergey Liakhovich (24-3) returned with a first-round stoppage of Jeremy Bates. That makes eight losses in Bates' last nine bouts... Edmund Gerber knocked down Shawn McLean three times in the first round to improve to 9-0. McLean was coming off a career-best win over Faruq Saleem (39-1). source: sauerland event

Press Release: On Wednesday November 4th, Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing and Larry Flynt's Hustler Club-NYC held a press conference at Manhattan's famous Il Postino Ristorante to announce their new promotional alliance to produce a new series of boxing events throughout the New York City area. Popular middleweight Peter "Kid Chcolate Quillin will be featured on the next show. "I am just so happy to be back and to be returning on such a great card. I am focused to restarting my quest to become middleweight champion of the world as you will witness with my fight on December 3rd."

The Rowe Show's weekly mailbag will return on Tuesday November 19th after a week absence. If you would like to talk Judah and Casamayor, Valuev-Haye, Dawson-Johnson II or pacquiao-cotto, questions will need to be in by Monday the 18th to be included in the mailbag. Email questions or comments to: badjabs25@yahoo.com.

Press Release: John “The Quietman” Ruiz did exactly what he was supposed to do tonight in Germany, stopping Adnan “Aachen Assassin” Serin, to set the stage for a 2010 world title fight against new WBA champion David “Hayemaker” Haye. As the WBA mandatory contender, Ruiz (44-8-1, 29 KOs) agreed with the promoters to allow defending champion Nicolai Valuev and challenger Haye to fight, while Ruiz took the Serin bout and “stepped aside”.

Press Release: The late great boxing trainer Eddie Futch, who counted six world heavyweight champions as his pupils, always said a fighter’s corner played an essential role in a competitive fight’s outcome.  With stakes high for the Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto fight on Saturday, November 14th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena live on HBO Pay-Per-View, today’s most decorated trainers give their insight into the match-up and whether or not the experienced corner of Manny Pacquiao, with esteemed trainer Freddie Roach, will out-perform the lesser known Cotto corner lead by Joe Santiago. Here from the experts themselves as they breakdown and predict the outcome.

Press Release:  A United States versus The World pro boxing show that features team scoring competition, showcasing sons of four former world champions,  will be held December 12th at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino as part of a  spectacular “World’s Greatest Ever Boxer” promotion that weekend at the same venue.

Press Release: Athletes, Celebrities and Boxers Predict Who Will Win the November 14 Showdown

 
BIG George Foreman leads the list of boxers, professional athletes and celebrities who all have opinions about the outcome of FIREPOWER: MANNY PACQUIAO and MIGUEL COTTO. The championship bout takes place Saturday, November 14 at MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be produced and distributed live on HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Press Release: PROVIDENCE, R.I.  – Irish eyes will be smilin’ again Nov. 20 when a stable of lucky leprechauns step into the ring for “Autumn Classic,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic entertainment and Sports, Inc. (CES), at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I.

Former junior welterweight and undisputed welterweight champion Zab "Super" Judah scored a sensational second round knockout over Ubaldo Hernandez at the :35 mark of round 2.

Press Release: From Ballys in Atlantic City, Mike “MJ” Jones will take another step towards fighting for the welterweight title when he battles the rugged Raul Pinzon for Jones’ regional title belt. Jones of Philadelphia has a record of 18-0 with fifteen knockouts. In his last outing, he made gofightlive.tv debut by beating up Lennin Arroyo over ten rounds in the same Ballys ring.

Press Release: On Friday night December 11th, Greg Robinson’s Power Productions Boxing Ringside presents the local return of heavyweight Chazz Witherspoon. The nine bout card will take place at The Arena in South Philadelphia.  Witherspoon of Paulsboro, New Jersey brings in a record of 26-1 with eighteen knockouts and is riding a three fight knockout streak since his only blemish to former world title challenger Chris Arreola on June 21st, 2008. Since then, Witherspoon has stopped Adam “The Swamp Donkey” Richards (22-1), Travis Fulton and Willie Perryman. Witherspoon’s opponent for the eight round main event will be announced shortly. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-240-9987 or 267-912-8747.

Earlier this evening Boxingtalk.com received a call from light heavyweight king Chad Dawson. "Glenn Johnson has been crying about the first fight for two years and he's going to have his chance to perform tomorrow night. I know one thing, I'm coming to handle my business." Dawson feels that Johnson is incapable of bringing anything more than first time because "he's a one dimensional fighter. I'm a more versatile fighter and I'm going to show the world that tomorrow night. I'm going to silence all of my critics and after I get my hand raised, it's on to the bigger and better challenge." 

MW:  You got a fight coming up in Kazakhstan on the 28th what do you know about your opponent? "I think he's 11-1 or 10-1 he's a young prospect. The fights scheduled to go ten but it'll probably go four."

Press Release:  Miguel Cotto, who takes on Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, November 14 live on HBO Pay-Per-View, is today’s brightest boxing star from Puerto Rico, which has produced more champions and legends per square mile than any place in the world.

BA: You've got a big fight coming up on November 21 in Germany. The bout will take place against Gennady Golovkin, he's a top rated middleweight. What do you know about this guy and what you can tell us about your first major international experience?

Ishe Smith: "I watched a couple of films on him, I broke my rule of thumb of not watching films.  The Danny Jacobs fight made me do that, because Danny did a lot of things that I didn't think he was going to do.  He thought I was just going to sit back, and I thought he was going to come right at me.  He boxed pretty well, he threw a lot of punches.  I had never seen tape on him, I changed my strategy after that fight.  It's a good opportunity for me to stay at 160. That's probably where I'm going to end up staying, unless I can get a big fight at 154."

Earlier this week Boxingtalk.com broke the news that Seminole Warriors Boxing is no more. Our understanding is that the dismissal of Leon Margules, who was ordered to surrender the keys to his company car, could have been handled differently. Differently meaning better. Margules is a bright guy who understands the business, so being in a position of control, chances are he saw the writing on the wall. Did Margules see the end coming as far back as two years ago when he virtually hooked up Lou DiBella with half of Glen Johnson for next to nothing? That's tough to say.

Next Saturday night Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao meet in the most anticipated fight of the year. The bout promises to bring excitement, featuring two power punchers who could end the fight with any properly placed shot. Will it be Cotto's size and body work or Pacquiao's speed? Whose left hand will do more damage? For those answers we'll have to wait and see, but regardless of how he does with Cotto next weekend, Boxingtalk.com firmly believes that win, lose or draw, Manny Pacquiao's next fight will take place against..

What's up G?? Your boy Money May is just 'laying back in the cut' waiting for the SMOKE to clear!! He done did his thing and he's keeping a low profile so nobody knows what he's thinking or gonna do. I heard that the Williams/ Maritnez fight when made will be fought at the 160lbs limit not 154.

Leon's Response: One thing you might not know is that Floyd is hoping Dmitriy Salita pulls the upset over Amir Khan so the two could meet Spring 2010 at YANKEE STADIUM. Salita wins, there is no other fight for Floyd next. Salita loses, then it's got to be either Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley. If there's anybody else he can do a million homes plus with, please let me know.

Boxingtalk: When can we expect to see you in the ring next and against who? "To be honest with you, I have no idea. I was supposed to go to Australia with [my promoter] Roy Jones on December 2nd and [Roy's company] Square Ring recently told me that I won't be going over there. I have a fight-by-fight contract with Square Ring and they don't have anything on the table for me right now and I am just trying to get something going. It's the end of the year and I am in a good situation and I just can't seem to get something going. I've been talking to Square Ring and trying to be on them about what they have coming up for me. Like I said, I was supposed to be going to Australia and then they told me I wasn't and I'm not really sure bro, it's kind of frustrating."

Press Release: On Friday, November 6th, Huntington Park, California’s Hector ‘Teco’ Serrano returns to action at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California, in one of the featured bouts on Thompson Boxing Promotions’ latest edition of “The Path to Glory” series. Looking to spoil his perfect 9-0 record in the lightweight six rounder will be Los Mochis, Mexico native Jaime Orrantia (10-25-5), who replaces Raul Franco on the six-bout card. For tickets to “The Path to Glory”, please call 714-935-0900.

PRESS RELEASE: What do a pair of fearless world champions do - one who is the most feared fighter and the other most avoided - when no other fighter is willing to get into the ring with them?  They fight each other. On Saturday night, December 5th, Paul “The Punisher” Williams (37-1, 27 KO) will step into the ring at the Boardwalk Hall Ballroom in Atlantic City in a scheduled 12-round middleweight Bout against Sergio "Maravilla” Martinez  (44-1-2, 24 KO).

Press Release:  Episode #3

                Debut:  SATURDAY, NOV. 7 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/6:00-6:30 p.m. PT)

                Other HBO playdates:  Nov. 7 (11:45 p.m. ET/8:45 p.m. PT), 8 (11:15 a.m., 8:15 p.m.), 9 (7:30 p.m.), 10 (2:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m.), 12 (11:30 a.m., 10:30 p.m.), 13 (9:00 p.m.) and 14 (10:30 a.m.)

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA —On the heels of his first primetime television appearance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and his recognition as a 2009 Gusi Peace Prize laureate, boxing phenom Manny Pacquiao now finds himself on the cover of TIME Magazine Asia edition (see below) as part of a five page feature story on the boxing Champion that will be included in all editions (global and US market) of the magazine hitting newsstands this weekend.

Press Release: Jeju, Republic of Korea


            The WBC’s 47th annual convention closed a day earlier than scheduled today in Jeju. WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán said that the change in plans was made to accommodate requests from several members of the Board of Governors who had conflicting travel plans.

PRESS RELEASE: Two of Don King’s fighters have been added to Saturday’s card headlined by World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolai “Russian Giant” Valuev his title opposing David “Hayemaker” Haye in Nuremberg , Germany , at Versicherung Arena. Former WBO heavyweight titlist Sergei “White Wolf” Liakhovich (23-3, 14 KOs) will face Jeremy “The Beast” Bates (22-16-1, 18 KOs), and undefeated cruiserweight Francisco “The Wizard” Palacios (18-0, 11 KOs) will meet DeLeon Tinsley (9-4-1, 5 KOs ).  Both matches are scheduled for eight rounds.

PRESS RELEASE: With his win over Alfredo Angulo in May, Kermit Cintron earned the position as the top ranked contender to WBO Junior Middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk. So, imagine the surprise of Team Cintron when they learned Saturday’s bout between #4 ranked Angulo, and #5 ranked Harry Joe Yorgey would be for the WBO’s interim title at 154 lbs.

GL: We're just days away from your rematchagainst Chad Dawson. Can you tell us what we can expect to see from you on Saturday night? "On Saturday night you're going to see a great fight and a Glen Johnson that's very impressive. I believe the fans will be excited about seeing me fight again after I take care of Chad Dawson. I expect a good fight from him, I expect him to use all of his skills. I just believe that right now I'm at the unstoppable stage of my career and I don't see what Dawson will be able to do in order to survive me."

GL: It's always a pleasure to have you on Boxingtalk.com Joe, what can you tell us about your December 3rd event at the Manhattan center? "It's going to be an exciting night of boxing. The main event is going to be Mike Arnaoutis and he's going to be fighting Tim Coleman for a vacant [regional] junior welterweight title. We're going to be sure to have a heavy contingent of Greek fans... On top of that we've got the return of Kid Chocolate. He's exciting and has that knockout power fans crave. We're thrilled to be back in the Manhattan Center, it's going to be a nice start to hopefully a great December for Star Boxing."

GL: What can we expect to see from El Cepillo on Friday night? "I'm going to get back into rhythm. It's been like a year off so I wantm to get this win under my belt and open up 2010 with a splash. It's the right fight and the right time for me to get back into it."

Resurging heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn contacted Boxingtalk.com to blast Chris Arreola and Dan Goossen for opting to fight Derrick Rossy instead of the best heavyweight in Arkansas. "This motherf**ker and his promoter Dan Goossen are pretty good at ducking people. I guess I'm going to have to win a fight or two and put myself in the mandatory position. But I'm not stressing Arreola, I want Klitschko. I just thought this would have been the fastest way to get back to a title shot or title contention. I guess I'm going to knockout whoever they put in front of me to get it done. Now we got Arreola picking Rossy and I'd beat em both on the same night. I didn't even know who Derrick Rossy was. I thought he was a minor league baseball player."

Edited Press Release: Saturday night’s HBO televised co-feature between  “Lightning” Harry Joe Yorgey and Alfredo “Perro” Angulo has been approved for the WBO interim junior middleweight title. According to its website, the WBO already has a champion at 154 pounds- Sergey Dzinziruk. It also has an interim champion in the same weight class- Paul Williams. Now Yorgey or Angulo will make it a three-headed WBO monster at junior middleweight. The WBA has been known to have three champions at a time, but that has been super champion, regular champion and interim champion. This is believed to be the first time that any sanctioning body will simultaneously recognize two interim champions. "It's been 20 years since Hartford has hosted a world championship fight and now it will be hosting two on the same night," said Gary Shaw, who is co-promoting the Yorgey-Angulo fight along with Banner Promotions. "It's a testament to the quality of this matchup that the WBO is sanctioning Angulo vs. Yorgey for its interim world title. Fans attending and viewers watching on HBO are in for an exciting night of fistic fireworks."  Angulo (16-1, 13 KOs), of Mexicali, Mexico, is rated #4 by the WBO, and Yorgey (22-0-1, 10 KOs, of Bridgeport, Pa.) is #5. No word on whether the interim opportunity was ever offered to #s 1-3. The Angulo-Yorgey co-feature will take place on HBO beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT, from the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. and will precede the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson rematch for the WBC interim light heavyweight title.  Remaining tickets can be purchased at the XL Center box office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, through Ticketmaster Charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at  www.xlcenter.com.

Boxingtalk: You have a fight coming up this Thursday against Ronald Weaver (29-18-2 with 22 KOs).  What do you know about your opponent and what kind of results do you expect to produce? Peter Manfredo: I don’t know much about him.  I just know that it’s a stay-busy fight for me.  I’ve been training in the gym and frustrated because I wanted to get a fight.  And I finally signed with TKO Promotions and this is my first fight with them.  And I feel real good.  I’m ready to go.  I don’t care who you put in front of me.  I’m coming back at middleweight.  I’ve been campaigning the past three or four years at super middleweight and I made it to the top level, but I just couldn’t win the title.  In my opinion, I’m just too small for that weight class.  So I’m going back down to middleweight and I think I have a better shot at winning a title at that weight.

PRESS RELEASE: WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev has promised “something special” for David Haye when they clash in the ring on Saturday night. “The Russian Giant” cannot wait to let his fists do the talking after the challenger has wasted no chance to hurl insults at the biggest and tallest champion of all time. “His comments have been very motivating,” Valuev said. “But let´s see what Haye has to offer inside the ring. I don´t think he will be able to follow it up. But I will not under-estimate him.”

Boxingtalk understands that HBO is strongly considering staging a four man tournament in the junior welterweight division. The names currently being mentioned are undefeated WBC junior welterweight champ Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidaina, Amir Khan and Victor Ortiz. Needless to say there will be more to follow.

The Juan Diaz-Paul Malignaggi rematch formally has a venue. The eagerly awaited junior lightweight clash will take place at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Press Release: It’s “Back To Business” for likely future Hall of Fame fighter Winky Wright (51-5-1 with 25 KOs), as he takes on Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer (26-11 with 15KOs) in a middleweight main event on Friday December 11th at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico and live on Pay-Per-View.  The fight was officially announced this week at a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Press Release: At the Grand Ballroom of the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, rising lightweight John Molina, Jr. (18-0 with 14 KOs), of nearby Covina, CA, will battle Mexico’s Martin Honorio (26-4-1 with 14 KOs) in the scheduled 10-round headliner of the ShoBox: The New Generation telecast on Showtime.

Press Release: It did not take David Haye long to make his presence known in Germany. Shortly after arriving at the renowned Hilton Hotel in Nuremberg on Monday, he caused a stir, insisting he could not sleep well in his bed. He wrote in his online diary: “When I reached German soil I was guided towards a disgusting hotel, with a dingy room. After a quick call or two, we managed to depart the rancid lair with our legs and arms still intact. We actually ended up at a lovely five-star hotel, though we had to pay for the five-star privilege. Still, if it saves us from the guaranteed Black Death of the first place, it will be well worth the price.” Chris Meyer, General Manager of Team Sauerland, was royally amused by Haye's antics. “If he calls the Hilton a ‘rancid lair’, it tells you something about his state of mind. Now you know why neither Nikolai nor anybody else at Team Sauerland has taken Haye's insults and provocations seriously. He clearly talks too much and has an interesting way of seeing things. With just five days between now and the fight, he might be getting nervous and is starting to lose sleep.”

Reliable sources have informed Boxingtalk.com that Florida based promoter Warriors Boxing is or soon will be, no more. Not that they were ever confused for an A level promoter, the outfit has produced champions like Juan Urango and has been instrumental in guiding the careers of Glen Johnson, Randall Bailey, and Sultan Ibragimov. Leon Margules, the lawyer, who was running the company was unavailable for immediate comment. Remember where you heard it first!

A new opponent has been named for Zab Judah for his bout on Friday, November 6th, at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Judah of Las Vegas now meets veteran Ubaldo Hernandez (22-19-2) of Fort Myers, Fla., in a ten-round welterweight contest. Boxingtalk: What can we expect to see from you on Friday night? "You can expect Zab Judah to put on a great performance. I've been waiting for this moment, I've been working hard and on Friday night, it's my time. Everybody needs to come out to the Palms in Vegas and show some love, because it's going to be a great night of boxing.

Jerson Ravelo (20-4, 12 KOs) contacted Boxingtalk to announce that he is  promotional/managerial free agent.  Ravelo, who represented the Dominican Republic in the 2000 Olympics, has campaigned at super middleweight in the past, but now contemplating a run in the middleweight division.  He last fought in August of this year, winning a unanimous decision over Willis Lockett in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ravelo had been managing his career up to this point, but says he recently made a decision to turn the responsibilities over to a manager and/or promotional team.  To contact Ravelo, send an e-mail to doveedlinder@hotmail.com and his contact information will be forwarded directly.

Press Release: At the midway point of training camp preparation for his first shot at a world title and his first bout in the Super Six World Boxing Classic, undefeated American Andre “S.O.G.” Ward and his trainer Virgil Hunter have declared they are on schedule and building momentum toward the November 21st meeting with WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA. The 25-year old Ward (20-0, 13 KO) who, in Athens in 2004, was the lone – and most recent -- American to claim Olympic gold, will attempt to wrest the WBA title away from Denmark native Kessler (42-1, 32 KO) in Ward’s own hometown while also preventing the Europeans from shutting out American fighters in the first round of this unique tournament being televised by Showtime.

Press Release: All the major sports leagues have "feeder systems" and now Southern California fight promoter and sports entrepreneur Roy Englebrecht has decided that mixed martial arts also needs its own legitimate minor league system.  In an effort to help develop the next generation of MMA stars while providing investors a chance to own their own professional sports franchise, Englebrecht announced Wednesday the launch of the Professional Mixed Martial Arts League (PMMAL).

Press Release: "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis will face a tough challenge when he meets Baltimore's Tim "The Pitbull" Coleman in a twelve-round contest for a vacant regional junior welterweight title. Joe Deguardia's Star Boxing will promote the event in the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City, NY.

This is the year of the off-and-on fights. I want to see Paul Williams and Shane Mosley get some fights. You would think Joshua Clottey was the victim [when two fights fell through for him] but Williams sounds correct. Clottey might tend to price himself out of big fights. As with Mosley he needs Andre Berto or any breathing boxer right now. Just defend your title. I'm  a Mosley fan and a Williams supporter. I will also become a big Berto fan once Shane retires. Their styles are very similiar. I hate to see them fight each other because they are both favorite fighters of mine. Well, maybe big fights get made in the next few days. Please forward any info.-Aaron "Precise" Blount
Leon's Response: At this point Clottey needs to jump on whatever major opportunities come his way. Shane Mosley could have and should have been back on HBO by now. Cheating got Antonio Margarito suspended for a year. Putting on a masterful performance against Margarito seems to have earned Mosley the same sentence while guys like Juan Diaz and Paul Malignaggi are fighting each other twice in four months. I expect Mosley-Berto to get done as well as Williams-Sergio Martinez.

GL: Can you tell us what you think about David Haye as a fighter? "He is a strong opponent, very fast with a strong punch. I expect a tough fight."

Boxingtalkers should not be surprised if Don King Productions winds up signing WBO junior middleweight champion Sergei Dzinziruk to a promotional contract. It would also be far from shocking if his first fight under the DKP banner took place against IBF champion Cory Spinks.  Remember where you heard it first

Press Release: Six days before his WBA heavyweight title clash with David Haye, WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev arrived in Nuremberg on Sunday evening. “I am in great shape and I will take home my title,” the Russian Giant said. “I really look forward to the fight.” Four American-based boxerss, including three ex-champions, have been added to the undercard. Former WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz (43-8, 29 KOs) will take on Germany's Adnan Serin (19-10, 7 KOs); Ex-WBO heavyweight champion Sergey Lyakhovich (23-3, 14 KOs) comes face-to-face with Jeremy Bates (22-16, 18 KOs). Team Sauerland's cruiserweight Alexander Frenkel (20-0, 16 KOs) will also display his talents against former IBF cruiserweight titlist, Kelvin Davis (24-10, 17 KOs). A fourth American import, Shawn McLean, 4-3, will face heavyweight Edmund Gerber, 8-0. McLean garnered some attention by recently upsetting previously undefeated Faruq Saleem.

GL:  What's the latest and greatest with Devon Alexander, and when can we expect you back in the ring?  "As soon as possible. [My manager] Kevin Cunningham and [promoter] Don King are talking now about what we're going to do.  They're talking about a tune up in December, and hopefully coming back with something bigger after the end of the year."

Press Release: Three-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach issued a medical warning to WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, the pride of Puerto Rico, who will be defending his title against boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao. Roach predicts a ninth-round knockout victory for Pacquiao. Pac Man will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, November 3, beginning at 12:05 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Press Release: Star Boxing has announced a promotional alliance with Larry Flynt's Hustler Club-NYC to produce a new series of boxing events. There will be a press conference held this Wednesday at New York's celebrity favorite, Il Postino Ristorante to officially announce the joint venture and the company's first upcoming event.
The first event, to be held on December 3rd at the Manhattan Center, will feature a regional light welterweight title bout between Star Boxing's "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis (22-3-2) and Tim "Pit Bull" Coleman (16-1-1). Also on the card are Brooklyn's Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillen (20-0) and Star Boxing's light welterweight "The New" Ray Robinson (11-0).

Press Release: In Hollywood, Florida, light heavyweight contender  Glen Johnson weighed in this past Saturday at 177, just two pounds abover the weight limit, at the seven-day weigh-in mandated by the WBC. His bout occurs on November 7th against Chad Dawson.
The weigh-in was conducted by ringside physician and Florida Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Dr. Alan Fields.

Press Release: A new-look Team Ruiz has arrived in Germany to make final preparations for Saturday night’s 10-round fight between 2-time WBA heavyweight champion John “The Quietman” Ruiz against Adnan “Aachen Assassin” Serin on the Nicolai Valuev-David Haye pay-per-view card live from Nuremberg, Germany. Ruiz (43-8-1, 29 KOs) agreed with the promoters for Valuev and Haye to “step aside” as the WBA “Official Challenger."  By defeating Serin (19-10-1, 7 KOs), he is guaranteed a title bout against the Valuev-Haye winner by the end of May, 2010. Miguel Diaz is Ruiz's new trainer.

Press Release: Although boxing and betting experts are bestowing their beliefs and bank accounts on a Manny Pacquiao victory over Miguel Cotto on Saturday November 14, Miguel Cotto believes differently and boxing history books tell a different story as there have been many a Puerto Rican fighter—from an island rich in producing infamous boxing champions—who have come in the underdog and walked away with the upset victory.  Cotto looks to keep the tradition of these former Puerto Rican fighters alive by doing the same to Pacquiao when they meet in one of the most exciting boxing battles of the year.

Yonnhy Perez W12 Joseph Agbeko... Undefeated Yonnhy Perez registered an upset unanimous decision over IBF bantamweight champion Joseph "King Kong' Agbeko in Las Vegas to capture a share of the world's 118-pound championship. The non-stop action fight between Perez (20-0, 14 KOs) of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., by way of Colombia, and Agbeko (27-2, 22 KOs) of Bronx, N.Y., via Accra, Ghana, was a spirited slugfest that featured numerous exchanges from start to finish. Perez scored a disputed knockdown in the tenth round en route to winning by the scores of 117-110 twice and 116-111.

Antonio DeMarco TKO 10 Jose Alfaro... In the first half of a Showtime doubleheader, Antonio DeMarco  won the WBC interim lightweight belt with a one-sided 10th-round TKO over Jose Alfaro. source for both results: showtime championship boxing

On Saturday night at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, legendary former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was reunited with announcer Jim Gray, who won an Emmy for his interview with Tyson following the infamous ear-bite fight with Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997. “I’ve been working on myself,’’ Tyson told Gray on Showtime. “I’m in the mood of being truly grateful of my life. I realize I have nothing to be mad at. I never dreamed I’d be living at this time (but) I’ve gotten as much as I gave. I’ve been blessed in my life. I just want to contribute to humanity now.” In response to Gray asking about George Foreman winning a title at age 45 and if Tyson, at 43, would contemplate a comeback, Tyson said:  “If this guy (referring to Don King) is going to pay for my training -- my training team costs a lot of money -- anything is possible.  I don’t see it happening but anything is possible.’’ source: showtime

Lou Del Valle D10 Joey Spina... In a result that could cost him his alphabet organizations world ratings, light heavyweight Joey “KO Kid” Spina (25-1-2, 17 KOs) and 41-year old former world champion Lou “Honey Boy” Del Valle (36-6-2 (22 KOs) fought to a ten-round majority draw at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. Del Valle won on one judge’s scorecard, 97-93, but the other judges had it even, 95-95. If Spina had won the final round he would have gotten the decision.

Hank Lundy KO1 Aldo Valtierra..  In the co-feature, lightweight “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy (16-0-1, 10 KOs) kept rolling with a first-round TKO win against Aldo “El Pato” Valtierra (25-12, 13 KOs). Lundy caught Valtierra with a left hook that dropped the game Mexican (25-12, 13 KOs), who was unable to get to his feet before the referee counted to ten near the end of round one. source for all results: ces entertainment