Mandatory Eight Count: So-So Sonsona and Joe Calzaghe's Hollywood Dreams

Sonsona too young to quit (The Philippine Star)
I think it's fair game to wonder if Marvin Sonsona has any real desire to be a professional boxer at this point. His promoter says in this article that there have been "days when he told me he wanted to quit boxing because he'd been boxing all his life." The gist of the article is to not give up on Sonsona, and I agree with that, but it has an asterisk. If he doesn't want to fight, he's never going to reach his potential, and really all he's doing then is putting himself in harm's way. He's got a ton of talent, but Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. took him apart on Saturday. He's 19 and clearly looks like he's regressing. But his choices aren't that cut-and-dry, of course. Like many of the Filipino fighters, he comes from a very poor background, and boxing is a way out, especially when you have his sort of talent.

Jones earns a no-thrills victory over Bruseles (Philadelphia Daily News)
Bernard Fernandez talks about Mike Jones' win over Henry Bruseles on Saturday. After watching the fight, I thought Jones looked pretty good. He wasn't thrilling, as Fernandez says. But I also came away thinking Bruseles, who isn't really a welterweight, looked surprisingly good, too. He could possibly contend at 140 again.

Controversy as SA’s Budler wins IBO title (Daily Dispatch)
An article on the Hekkie Budler-Juanito Rubillar fight from South Africa this weekend. Every report I've seen is saying Rubillar was robbed, and this one is no different. The judges were all South Africans.

Helping Others Helped Berto (Polk County Business Journal)
Andre Berto discusses his upcoming fight with Carlos Quintana.

Ex-boxer Paul Banke battles on after AIDS diagnosis (Los Angeles Times)
Paul Banke, who had a trilogy of battles with Daniel Zaragoza and stopped the Hall of Famer in their middle bout in 1990, is profiled by Jerry Crowe of the LA Times. He was the first name boxer in the U.S. to publicly acknowledge that he had AIDS. Today, he's 46 and doing well.

Zaveck to Defend IBF Title Against Rodolfo Martinez (STA)
As the IBF continues its ridiculous and thus far successful post-Clottey quest to keep their welterweight title far, far away from the division's best fighters, Jan Zaveck will defend for the first time against Argentina's Rodolfo Martinez. Martinez (36-3-1, 13 KO) has never beaten anyone who comes close to contention.

Is former boxing champion Joe Calzaghe headed for Hollywood? (Telegraph)
Joe Calzaghe found out that being a promoter wasn't all it was cracked up to be, so now he's considering an acting career In Hollywood, because that's really easy and everything. Maybe he could be on "Hollywood Squares."

Kauffman, Cintron win co-main events on boxing card (Allentown Morning Call)
Heavyweight Travis Kauffman and Kermit Cintron's brother Jason won fights in Pennsylvania this weekend.