Anselmo Moreno held off Mahyar Monshipour to retain the WBA bantamweight title in France. (AP photo)

View full size photo uploaded July 5, 2009

WBA bantamweight titlist Anselmo Moreno held off a late rally attempt by Mahyar Monshipour to retain his title via split decision in France. Moreno won on scores off 116-112, 116-113 and 113-115. He reportedly outclassed Monshipour early before the veteran challenger put hard pressure on starting in the eighth round and lasting through the tenth.

Panamanian Moreno (26-1-1, 8 KO) continues a really great streak of going onto someone else's turf and coming away with decision wins. He fought in Haiti once in 2006, but past that never fought outside of Panama in his pro career until his 2008 win over Wladimir Sidorenko in Germany, which he repeated on May 2 of this year. Between the Sidorenko wins, Moreno made two defenses of his title in his home country. Now he has a win over Monshipour in France. With all the goofy scoring decisions we still see in Europe -- which is overstated to some degree, but still a problem -- Moreno just keeps winning over there, even if by razor-thin margins.

I think it'd be interesting to see Moreno unify with the winner of next weekend's bout between Joseph Agbeko and Vic Darchinyan, too. He's a good boxer, he's young (24), and he's a southpaw. Should Darchinyan win, Gary Shaw has talked about him fighting at 122 pounds, as Darchinyan wants to face Israel Vazquez and/or Rafael Marquez, but both of those guys are now campaigning at 126. I suspect Marquez might be able to make 122 still were the money right, but Vazquez has flat-out stated he can't do it any longer. Without those two, the allure of testing 122 pounds might not beat out the chance to clean out 118 to some degree for Darchinyan.

Of course, Darchinyan has to get past "King Kong" Agbeko first, and that won't be easy or anything.

For Monshipour (31-4-2, 21 KO) this could be the end of the line. He's not getting any younger and has taken some punishment in his career. This was the "big fight" of his comeback after already retiring once, and while it sounds like he had some gas left in the tank, he may have been going for one more shot at glory.

In another big fight in Europe, American heavyweight Eddie Chambers looked leaner and meaner in what has been described by most as a dominant performance against 6'7", previously-unbeaten Alexander Dimitrenko. Chambers won a majority decision (117-109, 116-111, 113-113), and the draw card from judge Paul Thomas of England has been harshly criticized.

There's a poll one post down about the subject, and I think Chambers (35-1, 18 KO) has a great argument for being America's best heavyweight. You can argue that he's a natural cruiserweight, but even in an era of deflated heavyweight prominence, there's still more money where he's at than there is at 200. In his four biggest fights, he's really looked pretty good. The win over Dimitrenko is huge for him, as it proves he can beat a credible, tall heavyweight like this, and it also sets him up as the mandatory for the WBO title, currently held by Wladimir Klitschko.

His split decision win over Calvin Brock was a good one, as was his win in March of this year over Samuel Peter, which I thought was fairly dominant and at the least quite clear. His one loss to Alexander Povetkin is still a fight I think he should have won. I do agree that he lost it, but he lost it by doing things he hasn't done since. If they rematched, I'd pick Eddie.

• Humberto Soto says he'd gladly take a fight with Jorge Linares, who recently said he'd like the fight. Soto (48-7-2, 31 KO) has won four in a row since his highly controversial DQ loss to Francisco Lorenzo in 2008, which came as he was beating Lorenzo's face in. Linares (27-0, 18 KO) plans to fight in Japan next, and then there's a chance that Soto-Linares could happen. Both hold alphabet titles at 130 pounds, and it sounds like a dynamite matchup on paper.
• On next weekend's Showtime card, the undercard bout between Antonio DeMarco and Anges Adjaho will be a WBC lightweight eliminator, which would put the winner in line for a crack at Edwin Valero. Keep in mind Valero says he only wants big fights, though as he's currently licensed only in Texas in the United States, someone needs to convince him that he'd be better off staying busy than waiting for some Manny Pacquiao fight to fall apart and give him a window.
• Souleymane M'baye won the vacant EBU junior welterweight title in a closely-scored scrap with Colin Lynes. Scores were 115-113 and 115-112 for M'baye, and 115-113 for Lynes. Lynes was a late replacement for Paul McCloskey.
• Another note for the July 11 Showtime card. The show, to be held in Florida, will double as a tribute to Michael Jackson -- yeah, you're reading that right. King was a big Jackson fan, as billions of people were, and has been close with the entire Jackson family for years, including promoting a Jacksons tour in 1984. And he told the Sun-Sentinel that he's giving tickets away and not trying to make money on the event, really. He also claims he would have sold out the 20,000-seat arena anyway, which I doubt.
• 1995 Ring Magazine Manager of the Year Vinny Vecchione died of a heart attack at his Rockland, MA, home on Thursday.

Pound 4 Pound Radio on SIRIUS 98 did a tribute show last night to the late, great Alexis Arguello, and it's my pleasure to share the broadcast (in MP3 format) with you.

Part 1

Part 2

Costa Rican heavyweight Carl Davis Drumond has been cleared of rape charges for the second time in two years. (via www.boxnews.com.ua)

View full size photo uploaded July 3, 2009

In a horrible but brief news story, 34-year old Costa Rican heavyweight Carl Davis Drumond was accused of rape by his housekeeper, who has now dropped the charges. Drumond has served time in prison from rape charges in 1996, and also was accused of raping a prostitute in 2008. Those charges were dropped when the alleged victim's story was inconsistent.

Drumond is saying that people are going after him now because they think he made big money for his February technical decision loss to Ruslan Chagaev.

• Martin Castillo will "unretire" to face Alfredo Montano on July 17. 24-year old Montano sports a record of 9-8 with five knockouts. All eight of his losses have come by stoppage and unless Castillo (33-3, 17 KO) is more shot than any formerly good fighter I have ever seen, he should win this one with zero trouble.
• Jake Donovan discusses the legacy that the late Alexis Arguello leaves behind.
• Dan Rafael reports that Pacquiao-Cotto is still "on track," and that Pacquiao will be looking for at least $12 million for the fight. Mr. Rafael guesses that an official announcement will be made soon when Bob Arum returns from vacation.
• For our UK fans: Muhammad Ali will be making a visit to Britain, and will attend three dinners held in his honor in London, Manchester and Stoke. Says Ali, "I want to visit one last time not only to raise awareness and funds for the Muhammad Ali Centre, but also to say goodbye in person to such a wonderful country and to all my friends and fans here, in case my health makes such a journey impossible in the future."
• Happy belated birthday to Mike Tyson, who turned 43 on Tuesday. Isn't it crazy that he's younger than Bernard Hopkins? I know Mike's had another rocky year in his personal life, and we truly send our best wishes.
  
• Chris Arreola's promoter, Dan Goossen, has either gone certifiable or he's doing one of the all-time worst hype jobs in history. Ron Borges says that Goossen believes Arreola could sell 40,000 tickets in Los Angeles, and that they want to fight at Dodger Stadium.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may wish he'd been a little more careful with his cash. Is his return mostly for the payday? (via www.boxnews.com.ua)

View full size photo uploaded July 3, 2009

A lot of the scuttlebutt surrounding Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s imminent return to boxing centered on people in and out of boxing believing that the former pound-for-pound ruler needed a big payday. Talk of debts to the IRS and others was denied by both the fighter and his friend and business partner, Leonard Ellerbe.

Now, though, the Associated Press has hard evidence.

The IRS hit the former pound-for-pound boxing king with a lien in October for $6.17 million in unpaid taxes from 2007, according to the Clark County Recorder in Las Vegas. A New Jersey Superior Court judgment from the same year shows he owes $193,000 in state taxes there.

...

Besides taxes, county records in Las Vegas show the former five-division champ has unresolved debts worth $9,400 to three homeowners associations. Other liens filed with the county say the boxer did not pay nearly $3,900 to a contractor that programmed electronics at one of his homes and $320.10 to his trash collector.

Add it all up: $6,376,620. And ten cents.

Ellerbe continues to deny the claims:

"Floyd Mayweather does not have a problem with the IRS," Ellerbe told the AP on Thursday. "He doesn't owe the IRS $6.1 million ... I don't (care) what a lien says."

"When you have a problem with them, you ain't hard to find — ask Wesley Snipes," Ellerbe said. "You go to jail, they come take your (stuff). He doesn't have a problem."

I know they want to spin this as best they can, but it took years for Wesley Snipes' troubles to become known. More than that, Mayweather has a September 19 date that even after taxes on that and paying his corner and the like will still single-handedly erase this debt. Don't forget he's also the lead promoter for his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.

This isn't about disgracing Floyd or anything. These things happen. Richer folks than Mayweather have screwed up their finances beyond belief. As huge a figure as $6 million-plus is, it's quite fixable in his position.

It is, though, hard to take Ellerbe seriously with this news now so readily available to the public. Like it or not, Mayweather-Marquez will now be firmly associated with one thing: Floyd needing the money.

After talks with Hugo Cazares fell through, Nonito Donaire will now face Rafael Concepcion in his August 15 move to the junior bantamweight division. (via www.notifight.com)

View full size photo uploaded July 2, 2009

Nonito Donaire's August 15 pay-per-view fight with former 108-pound champion Hugo Cazares has fallen through, and Donaire will now face Rafael Concepcion that night in Las Vegas. San Francisco Examiner boxing writer Colin Seymour says that talks with both Cazares and Jose Lopez failed, and that promoter Bob Arum says Concecpion was "the best [they] could do."

Concecpcion (13-3-1, 8 KO) held the interim WBA title at 115 pounds last year after upsetting Pinoy prospect AJ Banal with a 10th round knockout in July, then less than two months later went to Mexico to defend against Jorge Arce, a hell of a tough war that Arce won when Concepcion retired after nine rounds of back-and-forth slugging.

He's better than his record, though Nonito Donaire has already noted that he is shorter than he expected. Donaire, moving up from 112 pounds, is listed at 5'6", while Concepcion is listed at 5'4" and that might be a bit of an overstatement. Concepcion also hasn't made 115 pounds since the Arce fight, though he's fought twice since then. He weighed 127 pounds for a fight with a tomato can in November, and 120 for a fight against Kermin Guardi in February.

The fight has also stirred up some folks in boxing, notably handlers of Concepcion's planned opponent for September 6, up-and-coming Filipino Drian Francisco (17-0-1, 13 KO). Concepcion opted to breach his contract and take the Donaire fight, but it sounds like Top Rank is willing to reimburse everyone involved with that card for money spent promoting the fight, and for airfare to and from the Philippines as well. Donaire being a fellow Filipino also helped, according to the event's managers.

Donaire-Concepcion is a pretty safe bet for a Donaire win, a fairly easy move up to 115, but not a lot different than the proposed Donaire-Cazares bout, which I found mildly interesting but also sort of transparent. Cazares really doesn't belong at the weight, and power, speed and youth were probably all on Donaire's side. Against Concepcion, he's taking on a guy who can take some punishment, but I also think Donaire will get him out of there in the middle rounds. Concepcion isn't a big banger and isn't particularly fast, so I expect him to really struggle to keep up with Donaire offensively and defensively.

72-year old former boxer Frank Corti thwarted a knife-wielding burglar with his bare hands near Oxford, England. (via i.dailymail.co.uk)

View full size photo uploaded July 1, 2009

Maybe there should be a new saying: Don't bring a knife to a fistfight with a 72-year old ex boxer. If you do, you might wind up looking like Greg McCallum did after he attempted to rob Frank Corti near Oxford, England.

Despite boxing being one of my favorite things on earth and the fact that I'm an MMA fan as well, and I grew up watching pro wrestling and still love a good action or horror movie (and oft times a bad one, too), I'm not a violent guy. But if you're the type of guy to go after a 72-year old, unarmed man with a knife and he winds up beating the left side of your face into hamburger mush with his bare hands, you pretty much had it coming.

The blows were so powerful that McCalium, who had just lunged at Mr Corti with the knife, was left looking like he had been in 'a car accident'.

The pensioner then restrained him until police arrived. He was jailed for four and a half years yesterday after a judge told him he had 'got what he deserved'.

...

Recorder Angela Morris said: 'Luckily, Mr Corti was an able-bodied 72-year-old who was able to defend himself.

'The jury might well have concluded you got what you deserved when you entered that property and took a swipe at him with that weapon.

'The elderly and vulnerable people are entitled to demand the protection of courts from people like you who decide to take matters into your own hands and enter a property with a weapon.'

 

Mr Corti, a retired car worker, added: 'If needed to, I would do it again.'

That last line is some John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn or Gran Torino Clint Eastwood stuff.

• UFC stars Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, who will meet for a second time at UFC 100 this month, talked some boxing recently and...well, they tried, let's put it that way. Mir confuses Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera at one point. Mir then ends with this line: "The UFC put the nail in the coffin on boxing, which shot itself in the foot. I tell some of my friends, who are huge boxing fans, 'Don’t blame the UFC for boxing's decline, blame what you’ve done to yourself." Hey, if it helps him sleep better at night...
• Hey, look at that, Jose Sulaiman and the WBC favors Mexican fighters again. The sanctioning body said it will return Antonio Margarito to its welterweight rankings despite the fact that he's currently suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, which everyone else is taking to heart. Margarito says he's going to fight in September in Mexico, but his promoter Bob Arum has said recently (if I recall, to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael) that he won't promote him until the suspension is lifted.
• Golden Boy chief Oscar de la Hoya is just one of the many around the world and around boxing mourning the loss of Alexis Arguello, the great former champion and Hall of Famer who died of a suspected suicide at the age of 57. "The Golden Boy" sent out a press release calling Arguello his "idol," and recalling nice times spent with him before and after Oscar's 2008 fight with Steve Forbes. Side note: Not to be mean at the wrong time, but does anyone else recall Oscar calling Julio Cesar Chavez his idol at one point?
• Guess who else sent out a press release? "The Quiet Man" himself, John Ruiz. Ruiz got wind of Chris Arreola fighting in September against a former champion, according to Dan Goossen, and now he's decided he should be that man. Not that I think Arreola has the pure, one-shot power of David Tua, but I don't think Ruiz would fare so well against Arreola.

According to the Associated Press, Alexis Arguello was found dead in his home this morning, of an apparent suicide.  Arguello was an extraordinary man who was able to succed both within and outside of the ring.

As a fighter, Arguello racked up a record of 82-8, with 65 knockouts, becoming world champion in three different weight classes.  Arguello, a Hall of Famer, owns a number of significant wins, including wins over Ruben Olivares, Alfredo Escalera, Bobby Chacon, Rafael Limon, Jim Watt and Ray Mancini.  Perhaps his most well known fight in the US, however, came when he was well past his prime and well above his best weight, in a junior welterweight battle with Aaron Pryor. Arguello had huge one punch power, and many of his best wins came when he was behind on all of the cards.

After his career as a boxer, Arguello became the mayor of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.  Recently, he had become the subject of controversy, with allegations of voting fraud and public graft.

Victor Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions are trying to spin his loss to Marcos Maidana, but now Ortiz has to prove he belongs. (via www.hbo.com)

View full size photo uploaded June 30, 2009

Golden Boy Promotions and Victor Ortiz are now in full spin mode. A press release sent out by the company highlights Ortiz's loss to Marcos Maidana from Saturday and his troubling post-fight comments, and attempts to explain them away as poor game planning followed by poor choice of words.

Says Ortiz himself: "I didn't fight the right fight and I didn't execute the correct game plan to beat Maidana. ... I made some comments after the fight that were an emotional response to the loss. I take full responsibility for my mistakes and actions, but I didn't mean what I said. I am young, have things to learn, and I guarantee you, I will be a world champion. Mark my words: Just watch me!"

Oscar de la Hoya chimes in: "Victor is a 22-year old kid with a brilliant future ahead of him in boxing. ... He got caught a couple times trying to go for the knockout even though he was clearly winning the fight."

And Richard Schaefer plays the blame game: "Victor suffered from being hit by several illegal blows to the back of the head and was sent to the hospital after the fight for a post-fight check-up as a precaution. He was there until close to 3am for testing, and although he is thought to have suffered a concussion, was released from the hospital."

Ortiz's co-manager Rolando Arellano says: "I will not allow the negative opinions and thoughts of others to poison our advancement towards a world championship."

I don't have anything in the world against Victor Ortiz. I doubt there are many people that do. The guy is dynamite to watch fight, and part of what makes him so good is his above average instinct to go in for the kill. That and sloppiness also are what got him drilled against Maidana, the first serious puncher he'd ever faced, and maybe after that performance one of the better punchers in the sport today. I don't think there's any great shame in losing to Maidana. I honestly thought that fight was pretty damn close to 50/50 going in, though I picked Ortiz based on the fact that I thought his speed would wind up being way too much for Maidana in the mid-to-late rounds. If anything, Maidana came in underrated after a fine showing against Andriy Kotelnik. Some folks talked like this was an Ortiz walkover. If Golden Boy thought that way, they were mistaken.

But seriously: What did they expect after the way he quit and the things he said after the fight? No matter how you want to spin this, he has to prove it now. No one's going to mark his words. For perhaps the first time in his young career, Victor Ortiz has to prove it. No more getting big fights based on potential or the kind words of his promoters.

You've got Oscar spinning youthful mistakes, Schaefer citing routine post-fight check-ups as some amazing evidence of Maidana being a dirty fighter, and then Arellano with the melodramatic "poisoning of [their] advancement towards a world championship."

The thing stopping Ortiz's advancement right now is the fact that he gave up the first time he was against it in a fight. It's not opinions from writers or fans, though some are certainly a bit extreme and classless. I hope Ortiz does whatever he needs to do. He's in a great spot to get advice from guys like Oscar and Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins. He's got access to the best in boxing. And he's got all the natural talent in the world. He's fast, strong, exciting, and has that killer instinct. I certainly would love to see him bounce back, learn from this, and come out even stronger and better than we expected. Do I think he can? Eh, what do I know? But if I'm wagering a guess, probably not. Just one dude's opinion though.

• Ricky Hatton's lawyer Gareth Williams told the Telegraph that the talk of an imminent Hatton comeback is "pure conjecture," and that the Manchester fighter has been in the gym simply to stay in shape. Williams himself admits this may seem odd, given Hatton's reputation for turning into Ricky Fatton between fights, and Ricky being in the gym seems to tell me that he does want to fight again, but that anything past that is still simply a rumor, which is what Mr. Williams is telling us.
• Irish manager Gary Hyde is attempting to stop Cuban defector and super prospect Guillermo Rigondeaux from fighting on the July 17th edition of Friday Night Fights. Hyde also manages Cuban defectors Mike Perez, Alexi Acosta and Luis Garcia. Hyde claims that Rigondeaux signed a managerial contract with him in March 2007. Hyde also claims that the only contract on file for Rigondeaux is with the Florida State Boxing Commission, dated May 2009, and that once he made his contract known, managers GSMG and Marcus Concepcion came back with a contract dated June 2006. No matter how this turns out, it might put another dent in Rigondeaux's fledgling pro career.