Happy Amateur Night, everyone!
- The scoring for Manny Pacquiao's win over Juan Manuel Marquez is going to be hotly debated for a long time, I reckon. And it seems like there are a lot of people favoring Marquez. Both myself and my BLH colleague Kevin Gonzalez scored it for Marquez (114-113 for me, 115-112 for Kevin), as did Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole (115-112), ESPN.com (114-113), and Boxing Scene's Cliff Rold (115-112).
It's not going to happen any time soon, and frankly by the time it could, Marquez is going to be a pretty old man, so I'm not getting myself excited for or even too interested in a third fight. But it's deserving of another one. Then again, what if Marquez won a tight decision? Do they fight again?
I can't blame Bob Arum for wanting Pacquiao to go on to other things. For one thing, a fight with David Diaz is a very smart business move for Top Rank, the company that controls both fighters, will rake in all the cash from the event, and it's a fight Pacquiao should absolutely win. Diaz is about as unspecial as a "champion" can be. With the win, they are free to make a big fight in Macau featuring Pacquiao. It's business. What can you do?
- Though everyone will still want to talk about Jermain Taylor taking on Roy Jones, Jr. later this year, it looks like both might have a tune-up for each other in the works. Lou DiBella talking with Don King about Taylor fighting Ricardo Mayorga sounds insane to me, but it'd be...interesting, I suppose. As for Jones, he attended a fight overseas recently where Markus Beyer returned with an eight-round sweep of Murat Mahmudov, a year and a half after Beyer's loss to Mikkel Kessler.
Beyer and his management team are wrangling for a fight with Jones, who was very complimentary of Beyer's performance and of the show in general. Jones was particularly impressed with Cuban heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis. Beyer, a 36-year old southpaw, would likely pose no serious threat to Jones, as he simply isn't big enough and doesn't have much punching power. For Beyer, it would be a nice way to make a payday. For Jones, a nice way to stay active and winning.
- Remember when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was going to fight Cory Spinks in 2006? Good God. And speaking of Spinks, am I the only one that's going to put myself through a streaming webcast of Spinks against mandatory challenger Verno Phillips? I just can't pass Spinks up. I feel that to appreciate the good fights, you gotta see the Spinks and Tarver fights.
- As great as it is that ESPN Classic is picking up the April 19 cruiserweight bout between Tomasz Adamek and O'Neil Bell -- which should be a hell of a fight if they both live up to their past reputations -- isn't it too bad that it's taking place the same night as Hopkins-Calzaghe?
- Zab Judah is already talking a big game for his fight against Shane Mosley. You know, the biggest concern I have about that fight being a PPV headliner is that Mosley is going to be relied on to carry the buyrate for most of the country. Can he do that? As great as he is, and as big of a star as he is, I question his drawing power. I question Zab's anymore, too. It's been a long time since anyone considered Judah among the best in the division, except maybe the guys at Boxing Talk, Judah's dad, and Inspectah Deck.
- Felix Sturm is scheduled to defend the WBA middleweight title again, this time against Jamie Pittman (16-0, 7 KO) on April 5. The Australian Pittman has never fought anyone who approaches being anybody. Given that Randy Griffin earned and was promised a rematch against Sturm, one now has to question Sturm and his management team and their guts. I think Sturm is a quality boxer, but he's fast becoming a total paper champion. He is not close to Arthur Abraham, let alone Kelly Pavlik.
- Since a fight with Demetrius Hopkins was never actually signed or scheduled, Junior Witter is left sitting around again. Ricky Hatton will fight Paulie Malignaggi if both win on May 24, which will take all the 140-pound headlines. Who can Witter fight? Timothy Bradley doesn't stand a chance against Witter, who is far too good for Bradley at this stage of the young star's career. Sadly, that looks like it could be Witter's next fight.
- If you're Wladimir Klitschko, who do you choose to fight next? Sloppy but determined American Tony Thompson, or technically gifted but totally overmatched Russian Alexander Povetkin? If Povetkin gets the shot, expect Klitschko to manhandle the former Olympian. if it's Thompson, expect either a four-round massacre or a 12-round bore.
- Isn't it strange how few TV shots Ricardo Torres gets?
- Guess who's currently listed as next in line for Edwin Valero? Somebody named Israel Hector Enrique Perez, who is about as legit a world title contender as Jamie Pittman. Valero's situation makes it tough to get him top contenders, but it's all a little much for me at this point. Valero against anyone who is a real top name could possibly result in Valero's myth being utterly debunked, so don't expect it any time soon.
- Anyone heard anything about Vic Darchinyan lately?
- The May 17 "Latin Fury" pay-per-view will be headlined by a super flyweight title unification between Alexander Munoz and Cristian Mijares, instead of Munoz against Jorge Arce. Probably a good idea for those that like watching Arce, as Munoz on paper was another guy that was going to beat the hell out of him, as Mijares did last year.
- Why is it so hard to get Ulises Solis to fight Ivan Calderon? Does either side really think there's more money to be made with fights against Nelson Dieppa and Juanito Rubillar?