Mandatory Eight Count - At least SOME promoters admit to protecting their fighters

Chris John wants unification; his management, not so much | Jakarta Globe

After making the 12th defense of his title against Rocky Juarez this past weekend, Chris John says he wants to try to get a unification match against Elio Rojas, Cristobal Cruz or Steven Luevano.  His management, on the other hand, wants to put him in against a soft touch on the Roy Jones-Danny Green undercard, as they feel John is now past his prime, and could lose his belt in a unification bout.  There's a bit of a catch-22 here.  I think John would beat either Rojas or Luevano without a problem.  Cruz is a difficult style matchup for anyone, and that fight would probably look a lot like Bute-Andrade.  But the biggest money fight available for John (and by FAR the toughest test) would be for "super" titlist John to face "regular" titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa.  Frankly, if John's management really wants to protect John from a loss (at least they're not shy about it), then a unification bout with Luevano (who I have little doubt John would beat) might not be a bad idea.  That way, he could abandon his WBA belt while still keeping a title, all while avoiding Gamboa, who would almost certainly overwhelm the aging John.

Note (09/25) by SC: This was a misreading. The quoted source in the column was not part of John's management, but rather boxing columnist Jeffrey Pamungkas.

Q&A with Cedric Boswell | Fight News

This is a pretty good interview with Cedric Boswell, who seems confident facing the undefeated, former pro-kickboxer, 6'7" 300 pound Alexander Ustinov on the Klitschko-Arreola undercard.  Boswell has skills, but has only really stepped it up twice (a last minute TKO loss to Jameel McCline where he dominated the fight but ran out of gas, and a KO win over Roman Greenburg), and is getting up there in years.  One thing Bos will be missing this fight is his good buddy Vernon Forrest, who he used to discuss strategy with before his fights. 

Herschel Walker testing the waters in MMA | Philadelphia Daily News

In addition to Ricardo Mayorga, 47 year old Herschel Walker has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce.  I realize Walker is a workout freak who does 600 push ups and 1500 sit ups a day, but any 47-year old trying to step up to the (relatively) elite levels of any new sport just isn't a good idea.  Walker does have a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, which probably means he'll get taken down in about 15 seconds. 

California State Athletic Commission under Investigation | Los Angeles Times

Generally, public servants aren't allowed to accept gifts, and need to report them when they do.  Evidently, certain commission members have been accepting free tickets to fights, giving them out to their buddies, and then not reporting them.  Not the kind of scandal that's needed in an organization that's supposed to uphold the sanctity of the sport.

Eloy Perez Living the High Life | Centralia Chronicle

Up to this point, Perez hasn't been a high profile enough fighter to even get mentioned here.  But last month, he won a regional belt at the Playboy Mansion, and he's now in the top 15 rankings at featherweight and in line to fight on BAD in December.  He was also one of Chris John's sparring partners for his fight against Rocky Juarez.  Still, the reason this article is worth reading is Perez's reaction to being surrounded by naked Playboy Bunnies. 

Street named after Arturo Gatti | Newsday

Atlantic City renamed Georgia Avenue "Arturo Gatti Thunder Place." Too bad they're not renaming one of the streets on a Monopoly board.  That would have been a fun one. 

Diaz-Chavez gets internet stream coverage | 15 Rounds

If you're bored on Saturday night and don't want to watch Klitschko-Arreola, this one might be a good deal for $9.99.  David Diaz and Jesus Chavez are both past their best, but they're both warriors and this promises to be a bloody and action-packed fight. 

Mexican ATGs give their take on Klitschko-Arreola | Dan Rafael Blog

Everyone gives words of encouragement, but it sounds like they don't have too much hope for Arreola either.  On the bright side, Teddy Atlas picked Klitschko to win, so maybe Arreola has a chance.