Paul Williams won his third straight fight in his third straight different weight class, beating Verno Phillips by doctor/referee stoppage after eight rounds of body bashing, and Chris Arreola won a three-round barroom brawl over Travis Walker on tonight's Boxing After Dark from Ontario, California.

The opening heavyweight slugfest stole the show, with an again out-of-shape Arreola catching hell from Walker in the first round and getting dropped in the second, only to rebound by knocking Walker down twice in that same second frame, and then a third and final time 13 seconds into the third round. Walker threw 106 punches in the opening round, which he dominated, but it may have helped Arreola more than it did Walker. Arreola wisely took the full eight count when knocked down, then took advantage of a throwing, open, and tiring Walker with power shots that sent the big man reeling.

For Arreola, this was a big win, but it's now becoming critical time for his team to get on his ass about the training. He was doughy, the same as he was in September, again weighing in over 250 pounds. Against Walker, it almost got him beaten. Against Wladimir Klitschko, who he's now in line to face next year, it will get him destroyed. I like Arreola a lot, but his disregard for discipline is No. 1 on the list of things that could be his downfall.

Arreola is now 26-0 (23), with Walker falling to 28-2-1 (22).

In the main event, a nasty cut opened on the outside and just above Paul Williams' right eye thanks to an accidental headbutt in the second round, but the former welterweight titlist still picked up an interim 154-pound strap in impressive fashion, beating Verno Phillips down with a focused and wicked body attack that took all the spring from the veteran's step.

Phillips, who turned 39 today, was game and tough, as we knew he would be. But he was also completely outgunned by the younger, bigger, stronger Williams. Williams even did it without using his gross reach advantage, as he relished the chance to fight inside with Verno, who kept trying to load up on big punches. He did occasionally land one, but way too few, way too far between.

Williams said if a big fight comes at 147, he'll go back down. I assume he'll take any fight between 147 and at least 160, which is what he's been saying.

We now officially start the mega hype for next Saturday's showdown between Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. Be with us this week, as we'll examine the fight from as many angles as we can, and then we'll be live on Saturday night with round-by-round coverage and scoring.

The show starts at 10pm ET on HBO, and we'll be here with live, round-by-round coverage and scoring. The holiday weekend is winding down, and what better way to relieve yourself the stress of wanting to tackle family members than watch grown men paid to punch one another?

If you're new to the site, the round-by-round takes place in the comments of this post, with no refreshing whatsoever needed.

via www.hbo.com

Personally, I don't think Ted wore the white outfit nearly enough.

As always, odds are taken from Bodog.

Paul Williams is a MASSIVE favorite (-1100) against Verno Phillips (+600) in the HBO Boxing After Dark main event tomorrow night, which probably went without saying. Williams (35-1, 26 KO) looks like he's relocated the fire and hunger that made him such a dangerous fighter in the first place. In his last two fights, Carlos Quintana and Andy Kolle have lasted 2:15 and 1:37, respectively, against Williams' big power shots. I think he's going to come out storming against the way undersized, 38-year old Phillips (42-10-1, 21 KO), too, and I don't know if Verno can last. Phillips also hasn't fought since March, when he outpointed Cory Spinks. And I still say that was a robbery.

In the televised opener, heavyweight sluggers Cristobal Arreola and Travis Walker will go head-to-head, and their fight has the exact same odds as the main event, with Arreola the heavy favorite. I don't see it with this one -- Arreola is a big sucker's bet.

Arreola (25-0, 22 KO) came in fat and slow against Israel Garcia in September, but since Garcia lacks any real skill and was just a can with a decent-looking record for Arreola to run over, Chris got away with that. He knew he was out of shape. He's a big dude at 6'4", but if he could keep himself in the 230s, which he's done before, he'll be way better off. The question is whether he has the discipline to do that. Weighing in at a hair under 260 pounds in September was inexcusable. He didn't carry it well, and he's not such a good boxer or so powerful that he can get away with that sort of laziness.

I don't really see why Walker is such a huge underdog, because I think he has a very good chance. "Freight Train" (28-1-1, 22 KO) has only lost one fight, and it was a horrible referee stoppage in the first round against T.J. Wilson, a loss that Walker emphatically wiped away when he beat Wilson down in the second round of their rematch. It's not that I think Walker is all that good, really. He's willing to trade, and so is Arreola, and it should make for a good fight. And even though Walker has little in the way of legit competition so far, guess what? Neither does Arreola, the American heavy people are starting to pin their hopes on.

If Walker catches Arreola, it could go bad for Cristobal. If Arreola isn't in shape, Walker might drill him. If you take yourself away from how much fun Arreola is to watch, the flaws are so clear that it's impossible for me to put anything big on the guy's shoulders. He's a good fighter, an entertaining fighter, but I don't know that he's a world-class fighter. He's 27 and isn't developing anything new; instead, only new questions about his career arise after several fights.

In Panama, former WBA featherweight titlist Jorge Linares (-3000) moves up in weight to face Whyber Garcia (+1500) for the WBA's vacant junior lightweight strap. Chances are it'll be easy work for the 23-year old Linares, one of my favorite young fighters. One of everybody's favorite young fighters, actually.

Source: Dan Rafael's must-read Notebook

With junior middleweight titlist Verno Phillips out of the running to face welterweight titlist Paul Williams on November 29 (HBO) due to IBF complications, it appears that the new front-runner to face the WBA strap-holder is light 'em up guy Delvin Rodriguez, who has been an action star on ESPN2.

The 28-year old Rodriguez (23-2-1, 14 KO) hasn't fought since July, when he was the victor over Oscar Diaz in the fight that unfortunately put Diaz in a two-month coma. Though no one should forget the sad end result of the bout, Rodriguez looked good that night, and brought the action like he always does.

Rafael said the same thing, but I think what's actually sort of neat about this idea is that instead of a guy like Carlos Baldomir or some other moderate name with very little chance and zero future, at least Rodriguez entering the title picture is something new. I give him almost no shot at beating Williams, who has recaptured his hunger and ferocity, but he'll fight. He will not run from Williams.

Rodriguez, at 6'0", is also one of the few guys in the welterweight division who can almost look Paul in the eye.

It's no marquee matchup and there's a chance Williams overwhelms him very quickly. But there's also a chance we get some warring rounds out there, which is more than you can say for a lot of guys. And it would also mean that at least Delvin has the sack to fight Williams in the first place.

As Paul Williams keeps talking about no one wanting to fight him, BoxingScene.com reports that he may have found someone notable willing to take a fight with him in November.

IBF welterweight titlist Joshua Clottey is willing to fight the WBO titleholder on November 29, says Clottey's manager, Vincent Scolpino.

So how about it? Honestly, if this fight doesn't happen on November 29, it's because someone was full of it. There's no reason for it to not happen unless HBO said no, and I can't imagine HBO saying no to a Williams-Clottey unification, a fight between two of the five best at the weight.

It's an interesting matchup, as Williams has come out firing his last two fights, a pair of first round knockouts over Carlos Quintana and Andy Kolle, showing a fire he seemed to be lacking against Quintana the first time, and even in his decision win against Antonio Margarito the year before. Williams had gotten to a point where it seemed like he was focusing too much on boxing, and when Quintana threw off his rhythm, it killed him. He's thrown hard shots against Quintana and Kolle the last two fights, throwing caution to the wind a bit and overwhelming by using his reach to do more than jab.

Clottey is a rugged customer, though, and can take a good punch. Coming off of a win over Zab Judah, he's as hot as he's ever been. Williams is not going to find a better opponent than this, and joke mandatory Michael Jennings (a Gary Lockett-level mandatory) certainly isn't in the same league.

Hopefully, they'll make this happen. Put your money where your mouth is, guys.

Early talk was that WBO welterweight titlist Paul Williams wanted to defend his belt when he returns to action on November 29, live on HBO.

Now, following a one-round blowout of Andy Kolle at middleweight, promoter Dan Goossen says Williams is simply looking for the "biggest" fight.

"What Paul is doing is not very common in boxing. It goes back to the old days. We want to get Paul the biggest fight that we can, preferably at 147 to defend his title. If we can't get a challenge we at the level we are looking to get, we will then address the 154-pound division."

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael has said that a fight with junior middleweight titlist Verno Phillips, who controversially upset Cory Spinks earlier this year, has been on the table. HBO has expressed interest in the fight, according to Rafael.

At this point, it's a wait-and-see. I hope Paul finds a suitable challenger at 147 pounds, because right now, it looks like we're heading down the road of him vacating his title. Williams isn't interested in stay-busy defenses, he's trying to make big fights. Though he's no box office star yet, that's not due to a lack of talent, or a lack of excitement in the ring, really. He makes compelling fights. Which I guess is sort of the problem.