Mandatory Eight Count: Kimbo Slice and Marvin Hagler Appear in First Headline Together

Kimbo Slice to leave MMA to box in heavyweight class (ESPN New York)
36-year-old Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson and promoter Gary Shaw are talking up Slice's entrance into professional boxing. I have said this before, because people who don't understand much of anything about boxing have said he should do boxing instead of MMA in the past, but I'll say it again. Kimbo Slice will do nothing in boxing. Relatively speaking, he did nothing in MMA except pop some ratings numbers on CBS. I like Kimbo Slice. He seems like a nice guy, like a guy who works really hard to be as good as he can be, but he's 36 years old. I would have loved to see someone like Kimbo Slice get into boxing when he was a younger man. The fact of the matter is Kimbo is not the freak of nature he appeared to be when he was beating up fat guys in boatyards on YouTube. I truly have nothing in the world against the man, but count me as a Doubting Thomas.

Injured boxer Martinez lands TV bout (My San Antonio)
Ranked 115-pounder Raul Martinez will be fighting an IBF eliminator against tough young Rodrigo Guerrero. No date or site has been set, but Zanfer Promotions is working on it. The main event of that show will likely be Juan Alberto Rosas defending his newly-won IBF belt against Francisco Arce.

Rios headed in the right direction -- in boxing and life (The Ring)
Golden Boy prospect Ronny Rios fights tonight on Fight Night Club, live on FSN and RingTV.com. Michael Rosenthal profiles the young fighter for The Ring.

James Toney gunning for British 'bums' David Haye and Audley Harrison (ESPN UK)
Already starting in on what he'll be doing after Saturday. And a fight with David Haye sounds about right from both sides. Here's another Toney quote, as he's having the biggest week he's had in over a decade probably: "People have been saying my boxing career is over - it ain't over. The problem in the boxing game is that everyone is scared to fight me right now. That David Haye is a bum; that other British heavyweight Audley Harrison is a bum. Then you have the Klitschko sisters. They are phoneys, bums." Then he makes sure to remind you that he holds the immensely respected IBA title belt.

Hagler: Floyd Jr. scared of fighting Pacquiao (Pinoy Boxing Republic)
Marvin Hagler did an interview and said he thinks Mayweather "might be a little scared" of Pacquiao. The article also furthers the weird myth that Hagler has become a gigantic Italian movie star. Hagler hasn't done a movie in 13 years and has a grand total of four to his credit between 1989 and 1997.

Q&A with Enzo Maccarinelli (15rounds.com)
Enzo says of upcoming opponent Alexander Frenkel: "I'm in a totally different kettle of fish to what he's faced."

Notre Dame's Mike Lee Returns to the Ring (Top Rank)
Notre Dame's Mike Lee will have his second pro fight on September 11, on the Gamboa-Salido undercard in Las Vegas. It's probably because I grew up a huge college football fan, and also grew up 45 minutes away from Notre Dame, but I find myself really following Lee as a prospect. He's got a winning personality, as they say. Here's a video of Mike Lee from CBS Chicago.

Joey Gilbert vs Kassim Ouma September 25th in Reno (Bragging Rights Corner)
Joey Gilbert will have home-field advantage for a Sept. 25 fight against Kassim Ouma. It's a fine fight for both of them and could produce some fireworks. Ouma looked reinvigorated in January against Vanes Martirosyan, and Gilbert comes to fight.