Quick results:

Manny Pacquiao TKO-9 David Diaz

Francisco Lorenzo DQ-4 Humberto Soto (horrible, horrible, horrible call, and we'll talk more about it tomorrow)

Monte Barrett KO-1 Tye Fields (57 seconds)

Steven Luevano D-12 Mario Santiago

Pacquiao looked phenomenal, overwhelmed Diaz the entire fight. Very fast, very strong. Diaz was too tough for his own good. At the time of stoppage, I had it 80-70 for Manny. He never got even close to losing a single round.

Luevano-Santiago was superb. I had it 114-114. Official scores were 117-111 Luevano, 115-113 Santiago, 114-114. Would love to see a rematch. Great style matchup, lots of momentum shifts.

Loved seeing Fields go down so hard against Barrett, who creamed him with six punches. It was a boxer against a guy in gloves. Plain as that.

The Lorenzo DQ was despicable. Manny Steward was incensed, and Lampley got into one of his rants. It was all deserved. Horrible call by Joe Cortez.

LEGITIMATE QUOTE FROM DAVID DIAZ AFTER THE FIGHT:

"He was too fast. F---er was too fast."

David Diaz is one hell of a likable guy.

Top Rank Promotions has signed IBF flyweight titleholder Nonito Donaire after the 25-year old Filipino parted ways in a dispute with Gary Shaw, reports Dan Rafael.

Donaire (19-1, 12 KO) publicly feuded with Shaw last year after upsetting Vic Darchinyan and getting just one fight the rest of the year, against Luis Maldonado. That was Donaire's last fight, and it took place in December.

Donaire was approved by Shaw to fight on that ill-fated card in Dubai that got called off, but after that, it's rumored all Shaw offered Donaire was a spot on the undercard of the upcoming Darchinyan-Kirilov fight on Showtime. It's worth being fair -- maybe that's all Shaw had open.

Donaire's not the only fighter to leave Shaw recently, as rising junior middleweight knockout artist James Kirkland has also split from his stable. Both men are managed by Cameron Dunkin, who has almost all of his fighters signed with Arum's Top Rank, including Kelly Pavlik.

Arum says that Donaire will likely fight in August and then hopefully be part of a massive October card in Macau, where Arum wants to stage a championship triple-header. It's rumored that he could be matched with 115-pound titlist Fernando Montiel or Jorge Arce, a contender in the same division, both exciting fighters and good opponents for Donaire, who seems to have the body to move up at least two more divisions if he wishes.

Kirkland, for the record, has a date on October 4th scheduled, and it's rumored that Deandre Latimore may be his opponent. Latimore recently upset Sechew Powell on ESPN2.

Source: Dan Rafael

WBA heavyweight titlist Ruslan Chagaev has been forced to pull out of a July 5 rematch with the man he beat for the title, 7-footer Nikolai Valuev, as a result of a nasty injury suffered in training.

The 29-year old Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KO) suffered a complete tear of his left Achilles tendon and is scheduled for surgery on Monday. It's the third time since he claimed the belt in April 2007 that Chagaev has had to pull out of a scheduled bout, and the second time a rematch with Valuev has been called off. Chagaev has fought just once since the win over the giant, beating England's Matt Skelton in January.

Valuev's co-promoter, Don King, had this to say:

"How many times is this dude going to pull out of a fight," King said. "He doesn't really want to fight the giant (Valuev) again. Valuev has trained for this fight twice. I want to see if the WBA will allow him to fight for the interim title immediately."

Frankly, King is right to demand an interim title fight for his guy. The injury is no joke; it's not like Chagaev can fight with a torn Achilles tendon, even though the prognosis is relatively positive. But this is the second time Chagaev has had to cancel. Valuev has earned his shot; he should get a shot.

The fight was to main event the July 5 show in Germany, but now the main event will be the WBA middleweight title rematch between Felix Sturm and Randy Griffin, who fought to a pretty exciting draw last year.

The day that Top Rank's promotional deal with the Versus Network ends cannot come fast enough. Tonight's show featured Anthony Peterson and Vanes Martirosyan against tough veterans -- fine idea in theory, sort of, but yet another stinker when all was said and done.

I don't blame Versus for the series being terrible. Their commentators are solid and know their stuff, they present everything in the classic boxing on TV fashion, and they are gifted with the Top Rank association in that they have interesting young fighters available for broadcast.

Of course, we don't get good fights. This series has been so God awful bad that the network re-airs to this very day awful fights like Ulises Solis-Will Grigsby II and Hasim Rahman-Taurus Sykes. Neither fight wound up worth watching once, let alone several times in the next year.

From the repeated promotion of Tye Fields -- a nice guy, but a hack fighter who fights crap opponents -- to flat-out yawners like tonight's two-fight card, there is hopefully no way that Versus will renew with Top Rank, and will instead go with Golden Boy or someone else. Anyone else. Arum and Co. obviously have no real interest in broadening the scope of their series on Versus, so get them out of there and let someone else try. It can't get any worse, can it?

Anyway, tonight's fights went largely as expected, at least in terms of the winners. Anthony Peterson (27-0, 19 KO) pitched an essential shutout (120-108, 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110 on my generous card) over veteran Fernando Trejo, who had last been seen when Bobby Pacquiao knocked him out in the fourth round.

Peterson, 23, was highly tentative and seemed at times afraid to open up on Trejo, who is hardly a tricky fighter. Trejo stood right in front of Peterson, tried to come inside on him, and was met with good defense and fine fundamentals, but no sizzle from Peterson. Now, look, Anthony Peterson is 23 years old. I'm not trying to judge how he would do against top 10 opposition the way Wally Matthews did tonight. He's clearly not at that level yet. But even a half-step up against a puncher might test him the way he fought tonight. It was a solid advancement in his career, but nothing special.

The same could be said of Vanes Martirosyan (20-0, 13 KO), who beat former Winky Wright challenger Angel Hernandez (28-7, 16 KO). The 22-year old Martirosyan knocked Hernandez down in the opening round with an uppercut and stunned him a lot throughout the ten round sweep (100-89 on all three cards, and on mine). But Hernandez proved double tough, taking Martirosyan's best and staying up, even taunting him and asking for more on several occasions. But in the end, it was a one-sided beatdown that showed more than Hernandez was shot than it did anything (again) special about Martirosyan.

The fights went well for Arum's interests, and for the two winning prospects. But who watched? And what did they think after? These are valid questions.

It's really a pretty familiar storyline by now, isn't it?

In this corner, the underdog. WBC lightweight titlist David Diaz is a +350 bet on Saturday night, a fighter that has only recently started garnering any attention. For a guy who teamed with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Antonio Tarver in the '96 Olympics, his career as a pro has been a very slow burn.

At 32, he is entering the biggest fight of his career for the third time in his last four bouts. First, it was a fight with Jose Armando Santa Cruz for the (ridiculously) interim title. Diaz rallied to upend Santa Cruz in the end, scoring a 10th round TKO. Diaz was losing on all three scorecards at the point of stoppage (88-83, 88-83, 87-84).

After that, he was awarded full title rights when the WBC (absurdly) stripped Joel Casamayor, and he signed on to fight legend Erik Morales, who was eight months removed from a vicious three-round beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao.

Morales started strong, but it was Diaz who finished strong. In a hell of an exciting fight, Diaz retired Morales with a close (114-113, 115-113, 115-112) unanimous decision after having tasted canvas early in the fight. He was beaten bloody, but he had the fresher and stronger legs over 12 rounds.

In his last fight, he faced noted sparring partner Ramon Montano in a non-title bout on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez II. It wasn't even supposed to make the PPV telecast, but did so as the opener. It was all to keep Diaz fresh for Manny.

It's hard to say that David Diaz brings anything exceptional to the table when he fights, except for grit. He's a tough guy with a good chin. He does nothing great, but he also isn't notably poor in any one area. His best asset might be his defense, but he has that mean streak in him that causes him to throw leather, even against superior punchers. His power isn't great, but isn't so weak that it's to be ignored. His hand speed is OK. His footwork is solid. And when he's in his rhythm, he fights very smart.

He also knows what sort of opportunity this is. It's -- by far -- his biggest payday. It's the first time he's been a legit pay-per-view headliner. (You can't count the Morales show, which was "promoted by" HBO but was given as much attention as your random B.A.D.)

If David Diaz beats Manny Pacquiao, no longer is he the wandering lost soul of a suddenly-packed 135-pound division. He's in running to be The Man.

In this corner, the superstar. Former 112, 122, and current 130-pound champion/titleholder Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino combination of Muhammad Ali and The Beatles. Pacquiao, 29, is arguably the biggest global star in boxing, and is one of the greatest "small man" attractions the sport has ever known.

The 'is he in shape?" stuff is there, as always, though less so this time. The stories of Freddie Roach trying to keep Manny in check are there, as always, though less so this time. And the fighter that started as a strawweight keeps moving up and on.

What more is there to say about Manny Pacquiao at this point? His ticket to Canastota is punched. He has two wins apiece over Marco Antonio Barrera (both dominations) and Erik Morales (both exciting brawls, and their first fight, which Pacquiao lost, might've been the best of their encounters). He beat Juan Manuel Marquez in a tight decision, years after their epic draw.

He is known as "The Mexecutioner" in some circles, though it's a nickname he doesn't particularly like. Diaz, a Chicago-born Mexican-American, doesn't have the credentials that Marco Antonio, Erik, or Juan Manuel did when they fought Manny.

But Manny's coming to his house, too. Diaz is a true lightweight, a fighter that boxed around 140 (even going up to 147 once) until settling in at 135 in 2005, nine years after his pro debut.

2005, coincidentally, is also the last year that saw Pacquiao lose a fight.

Can Diaz beat Pacquiao? Can he score what would be the new Upset of the Year?

No. Probably not. Let's be honest, he's an underdog for a reason. He's a good guy and I'm happy he's fought his way into this position, and I wish him all the best. Pacquiao is, simply put, a far more dynamic, lethal boxer than is Diaz. The comparison between the two is not very close.

Power? Advantage Pacquiao. Speed? Advantage Pacquiao. Chin? Advantage Pacquiao, probably. Big fight experience? Obviously, advantage Pacquiao.

It's going to be a very tough row for Diaz to hoe on Saturday night.

It has been a year of upsets, but not yet one that has truly been an epic, Cinderella Man-ish "shock the world"-type. It has also (Oscar-Forbes, Pavlik-Lockett, Cotto-Gomez, etc.) been a year filled with some real mismatches. This might be another one.

I don't mean to count Diaz out, but on paper? Count him out.

Source: Setanta

"Simply because I don't feel (Kelly Pavlik) deserves a shot yet at the big-time. On the back of one performance against a subdued, light fighter. There's a vast, vast difference between Gary and Joe Calzaghe. Gary would be the first to say that. It's chalk and cheese."

Can all of this get any more transparent, at this point? There are a few possibilities.

1. Enzo Calzaghe is bonkers, and actually thinks that a 39-year old Roy Jones, Jr., that hasn't beaten anyone in FIVE YEARS is really a tougher test of his son's skills and precious undefeated record, than is current middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik.

2. The Calzaghes are scared of Pavlik. I don't think this is true, for the record.

3. They're all -- both camps -- angling to make this a big "blood" fight sometime in 2009, and throwing as many notable quotables out there as possible.

I lean toward the third one, myself.

The Calzaghe-Jones fight is being reported by a lot of the UK outlets as being fairly certain for September 20, with HBO offering that date after it was abandoned by Oscar and Floyd.

I know some folks are talking it up like Jones has a shot. Calzaghe just beat Bernard Hopkins, and even if you thought Hopkins deserved the decision as he wheezed his way down the stretch, you will admit it was a very close fight between two world-class champions.

Jones hasn't beaten anyone in half a decade. Tito Trinidad pumped up to 170 pounds with years out of the ring doesn't count as anyone -- sorry. Can Enzo Calzaghe honestly say he thinks that Jones is currently one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the game? Better than Pavlik? TODAY? In today's modern world?

They've said it themselves: they're fighting the best fighter of the 1990s. We're almost done with the 2000s.

But I really do think that if both guys stay unbeaten, Calzaghe-Pavlik should happen in 2009. Pavlik will have to fight Arthur Abraham before then, most likely, which will only serve to raise his profile globally.

For now, let 'em talk, I guess. And talk. And talk and talk and talk...

Former U.S. Olympian Jason "Big Six" Estrada has issued an open letter to Chris Arreola via his PR team. I usually don't bother with a lot of this stuff, but this one's pretty fun.

Dear Chris,
 
Congratulations on your win last weekend against Chazz Whitherspoon. I honestly didn’t agree with the referee’s decision to disqualify Chazz. Hell, I really wasn’t impressed by anything you did. 
 
I think it’s time for us to determine who America’s top heavyweight prospect is. There’s been a lot of hype about you being the “Nightmare,” but you’ve never fought anybody quite like “Big Six.”
 
Chris, I had an understanding that if Chazz had beaten you, he was going to fight me next. I am going to be world heavyweight champion and I’m willing and able to fight anybody who is in my way, including you, Chris. I’m calling you out, brother. I know you want to be heavyweight champ, too, so try and go through me instead of taking the easy way out.
 
I’ve been minding my business, fighting anybody my promoter Jimmy Burchfield has put in front of me. None of them have had a losing record and the combined record of my opponents when they fought me is 203-73-9. Nine of your 24 opponents had losing records, 256-180-21 overall. There are a lot of cupcakes and tomato cans on your resume. My opponents had a winning percentage of 71-percent, yours is only 56-percent. Can you spell PROTECTED?
 
I’ve sat back and watched other so-called prospects like you fighting stiff after stiff. And somehow the media has bought into you being the “Nightmare” because you’ve knocked out so many of these guys. You’re a strong club-fighter, that’s it, at least until you beat somebody like me, a boxer whose skills you’ve never been in against.
 
I have one loss on my record because I was willing to fight in the other guy’s (Travis Walker) hometown. He had 20 pro fights, I only had six, and I hurt my shoulder early in the fight. Yet, I still almost pulled off a victory. 
 
I’m ready to fight you to prove I’m America’s No. 1 heavyweight hope. Chris, let’s make it happen. All of the top rated heavyweights are tied up for months, anyway. Who’s out there for you other than more ready-made opponents? 

Styles make fights and fans always love to watch a puncher like you fight a boxer like me. Supposedly, I can’t punch, so just get into the ring with me and find out what I have -- great whiskers and the fastest hands in our division. 
 
You’re supposed to be the “Nightmare.” Try and scare me; I dare you, Chris.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jason “Big Six” Estrada
2004 U.S. Olympian
Future World Heavyweight Champion

Estrada's prospect status is very questionable because his lack of power is just downright troubling. Three knockouts in his 13 career wins? Not many heavies get by on that sort of KO rate.

He can box, though. He's not going to make your eyes pop out in awe, but he's got skills. As for his claim of having the fastest hands in the heavyweight division, I wouldn't go that far. Eddie Chambers is a quick-fisted SOB -- actually, Eddie Chambers is a higher-end version of Estrada, I'd say.

I'm not trying to disrespect Jason, and much of what he said is very true. He was matched fairly aggressively, fighting a 10-rounder in his seventh pro fight, and sweeping the cards. I'm not going to tell you that Robert Hawkins, Charles Shufford and Lance Whitaker are great fighters or that they say a whole lot about Estrada's skill level, but those names would fit right in with Arreola's 24-0 (21) record.

They're both 27 years old. Arreola is three inches taller and definitely stronger. Estrada probably has more fundamental ability. It's an OK matchup to think about.

However...

Oh, however. Chris Arreola just got done fighting on HBO. He's moving his way into title contention, fast. He has no losses. Estrada has a loss. Estrada can't punch. Estrada's fights are not usually aesthetically pleasing to watch.

Estrada's trying to get attention, because he's been lapped by Arreola in the race to find the next American heavyweight star. "Big Six" was barely ever in the race to begin with.

Estrada would be seen by most as a step down for Arreola right now, who is finally getting around to moving forward. Estrada still has some hours to put in.

The 130-pound ranks are about to get a shot of life after finding the top ten a bit barren with the impending departures of Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Joan Guzman, as IBF featherweight titleholder Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero has decided to vacate his position and move up a weight class.

His team issued a statement that said, in effect, that Guerrero feels the four pounds will just add more power to his game. I'd have to think he might be feeling the pressures of making weight, too, since he's 25 now and has been fighting at featherweight his entire career.

Buuut...

There's another angle.

Guerrero was coming up on due time for a mandatory defense against Orlando Salido, the guy that beat him 2006, the result changed to a no-decision after Salido failed a post-fight drug test. Salido won on scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 115-113 that night, and just plain had Guerrero's number. Maybe "The Ghost" simply doesn't want that fight again. Since then, he's been a wrecking ball, knocking out Spend Abazi, Martin Honorio and Jason Litzau.

I'm not trying to say Guerrero is ducking Salido, but it's a thought to consider.

Either way, he'll make more money at 130 since there are still a couple of big fights to make there. Guerrero could fight Edwin Valero eventually, or he could fight Humberto Soto, or whatever. At 126, he wasn't going to get any crack at Chris John, and a fight with Steven Luevano didn't seem too likely, either.

I'm really a big Guerrero fan and considered him to be, right now, arguably the best featherweight in the world. John's resume is not impressive, and I'd rank him behind both Guerrero and Luevano. Not that any of that really matters, especially now. I wish Guerrero nothing but the best.

Let's ignore all the post-fight shenanigans that are being talked about, and focus on the actual fight.

Edison Miranda has always talked a good game, and he was talking one of his best ever leading up to his rematch against Arthur Abraham last night. A couple of years ago, Miranda broke Abraham's jaw in two places but lost a controversial decision in Germany, having been docked five points for fouls.

I gave Miranda a good shot at scoring a minor upset over Abraham last night. He had the power, he seemed to have improved enough technically to make that power even more effective, and this would be King Arthur's first trip stateside. He was essentially fighting on Miranda's home turf in Hollywood, Fla., the same as Miranda did the first time against Abraham.

No dice. Arthur Abraham laid back for two rounds, turned up the heat in the third, and then demolished Miranda in the fourth with three knockdowns before the referee called the fight off out of necessity. Miranda was a walking punching bag at that point. A muscular punching bag, sure, but a punching bag regardless.

We have learned now for certain that whether it's 160 or 168 or last night's 166-pound catchweight, Edison Miranda is a one-trick pony who doesn't have a great chin and will never become more than the fighter he is, which is a guy that simply can't beat top-shelf opposition.

His three career losses have come to Abraham and Kelly Pavlik, the last two of which saw Miranda get manhandled by both guys. Miranda's wins have come against guys like an old Howard Eastman and Allan Green, the latter of whom is another fringe-y sort of fighter that has the tools to maybe score an upset, but most likely won't.

It's time, finally, for Edison Miranda to shut up before fights. He won't, and he'll be entertaining. He's a new, bigger Ricardo Mayorga. He's got power, he's got charisma, and there'll always be a home for him on TV because of his style. He's damn fun to watch, because it's pretty certain that someone's getting knocked out. HBO is interested in matching Miranda with Jermain Taylor if a Taylor-Lacy fight can't be made (credit: Dan Rafael). I'd watch it, no doubt. It'll be entertaining.

Miranda's problems are obvious. He has beyond subpar defensive abilities, and he seems to think he has a granite chin when the facts just don't support the theory. When he faces guys that punch back, he has crumbled. With no broken jaw the first time around, Abraham probably does what he did last night. And frankly speaking, Abraham-Miranda I was probably a career-best performance by Miranda.

Edison Miranda will move on. He wasn't done after Pavlik destroyed him, he won't be done now. Losing to the clear two best middleweights on the planet is not a death sentence. He'll be around for years, and he might pick up an alphabet strap along the way. Alejandro Berrio did.

As for Abraham -- wow. What a performance. He scouted Miranda for two rounds, essentially, then lived up to HIS talk, which was that Miranda was not a hard guy to beat. Once he saw his opening in the fourth, down Miranda went. And again. And again. He creamed Edison Miranda. It was a no-doubt, star-making performance.

Welcome to America, King Arthur. We await your return.

And who should Abraham fight next? Well, that'll have to wait.

The Showtime undercard did the boxing world a favor, with Raul Marquez outboxing, frustrating, and beating undefeated, untested, ridiculously ranked Giovanni Lorenzo over 12 rounds, winning a ridiculously razor-thin decision, 114-113 across the boards.

Lorenzo was also docked a point in round 10 for an intentional headbutt, so that means without that foul, it was a draw. I don't know how anyone could've seen this fight as a draw.

Marquez was the aggressor despite being older and supposedly not possessing the same power. Lorenzo's best work was done counter-punching, but even when he scored there, he was generally being scored upon by Marquez. Most of the big exchanges -- and there were some furious, nasty brawls within the fight -- went Marquez's way. The most notable of the bad blood stuff came when Marquez and Lorenzo violently scrapped well after the bell sounded to end of that 10th round where the headbutt occured.

The visual toward the end of the fight was excellent, with blood streaming down Marquez's face from at least three cuts around his right eye, but here he was still the guy pressing the action. The old man who was supposed to be the legitimate win for Lorenzo was taking the kid to boxing class.

To summarize, a cagey veteran exposed a hype-job. I'm not trying to dump on Lorenzo. He didn't rank himself #4 in the IBF's system. He fought like a punk many times in the fight, though, and did give an overall poor account of himself. But that happens. I'm not writing him off as a jerk or anything.

So, now, Marquez is in line to face Arthur Abraham. He doesn't have a hope in hell, but Lorenzo probably would've been eaten alive by Abraham anyway.

But the fight to see at 160, unquestionably, is Pavlik-Abraham. If Jack Loew or anyone else thinks Kelly Pavlik is going to get Abraham out of there in "three, four, five rounds," they're nuts.

The fight is excellent on paper, with Fight of the Year-like potential. Two great punchers. Abraham is an excellent counter-puncher and pouncer. He's also superb defensively. Pavlik is underrated as a defensive fighter, and has the great knockout percentage. You can't beat that fight. And really, it's ahead of Pavlik-Calzaghe on my wishlist.

Let's answer why, huh? These guys are both in their prime. They're the two best middleweights, both unbeaten. Calzaghe is a light heavyweight, and I know it'd be awesome to see a fight at 168 between Pavlik and Calzaghe to decide three lineal championships, but that can wait as far as I'm concerned.

Abraham will face Marquez next, and it looks like Pavlik will take on Marco Antonio Rubio. Tune-up fights, both acceptable given what should be next. Both camps have talked about the fight, and I don't think there'd be any real problem making it happen. 

It's a must-see, a must-have, a must-make for the promoters. I'd put that fight top five on my most desired bouts right now.

Over on HBO, Andre Berto easily handled Miki Rodriguez, as everyone expected, eventually scoring a seventh round TKO against the overmatched ex-policeman. Berto, as usual, dominated.

Berto is also now the WBC welterweight titleholder, which puts him in the lion's den. Max Kellerman noted many times how short Berto is at welterweight, but I don't really get that, nor see it being a huge issue. He's an inch and a half taller than Cotto, a half-inch shorter than Mosley, taller than Judah, as tall as Clottey, an inch shorter than Quintana, etc. Paul Williams (6'1") and Antonio Margarito (5'11") are not the norm at 147. Berto will be fine.

Does he have things to work on if he's going to step up? Sure. What 24-year old doesn't, belt or no belt? And no, he should not rush into fighting the top-tier welterweights right now. It's way too far of a step up.

The fact is, Berto is probably going to have to put up with some criticism as a major titleholder, because he's not ready for those best of the best dudes. A fight with a guy like Luis Collazo would present Andre with a lot of new looks, things he'd have difficulty handling. It's not a knock on him at all, it's just that that's a fairly big step up from guys like Rodriguez, Michel Trabant, David Estrada and Cosme Rivera.

If he takes a couple more fights like that, which isn't hard to imagine at 22-0, he's going to receive some backlash. In the end, though, his career might be better for it. To be honest, it wouldn't shock me to see his next fight against someone like Delvin Rodriguez or maybe a Dmitriy Salita.

Overseas, Amir Khan and Mikkel Kessler both won as expected. I'm a big fan of Khan, and despite some of the things I've said (which were all deserved), I do like Kessler, and I really like him as a fighter. I've never once said that he can't go in the ring. The man can fight.

Khan has been talking about moving up a big step, but even as good as he already is, that's probably rushing things. Hopefully, Kessler will find a good dance partner. and get himself back on American TV, which will not be easy since he has angered both major networks in the last year. HBO was peeved (along with Calzaghe, Frank Warren, and others) that Mikkel was essentially a no-show in promotion last November, and Showtime can't be happy with them about the Miranda ordeal.

But I like watching him fight, because he's good. It'd be great to see him on live American TV again.

When all is said and done for this big Saturday in boxing, it was Edison Miranda, of all people, who had the most poignant parting words:

"I have no quarrels tonight. He was prepared and he felt very strong. I don't know what happened. I was 100 percent coming into this fight. I don't know. He was too strong today. He's a great champion."

Alexander Abraham is denying the story through Team Sauerland, but fact remains he was arrested and had to make bail. Tim Smith has also reported the story on ESPN.com, so I don't know how seriously to take the Abraham camp on this one. Probably with at least a giant grain of salt.

There is a legit $100,000 fine being levied against Arthur Abraham, and if it's not paid, Arthur faces a suspension in the States. This whole situation is just utterly stupid and shameful. Let's hope it doesn't mess up Arthur's career, because all he did last night was his job.

We'll have more on last night's fights later tonight with a full recap of all the action.

As a side note, how about this one? ESPN's Dan Rafael reported in his Insider blog (which is always worth the money, for the record) that Nate Campbell told him that terms have been agreed to for a fight with Joan Guzman...on September 13th on Showtime. That's right -- the exact same date as Casamayor-Marquez.

Come on, guys.