Ring of Fire: Hatton Swipes Munroe, Malignaggi Bashes Alexander, More

Rendall Munroe Leaves Frank Maloney for Hatton Promotions

Super bantamweight contender Rendall Munroe has dumped promoter Frank Maloney to sign with Hatton Promotions. Sky Sports reports that Munroe is simply looking to further his career, and has no hard feelings toward Maloney:

"Rendall is ambitious; he wants to be a world champion and this deal makes sense. We did not want to take the risk of getting into a rut or going stale.

"The Hattons are connected to Golden Boy in America and it if it was a choice between boxing in front of 800 fans in Sunderland or 15,000 at the MEN, what would you do?"

That's a quote from Munroe's manager Mike Shinfield, referencing the plan for Munroe to come back in an eight-rounder under Maloney, while now he'll be fighting on the Khan-McCloskey undercard on April 16.

This is not a huge move for most, I suspect, but I think it's important, particularly that quote. With Hatton working with Golden Boy in the States, Ricky and his partners are able to offer something more than any other UK promoter can right now. Matthew Hatton got a nice payday to fight Saul Alvarez. Matthew Macklin was set to face Winky Wright on U.S. PPV before that fell apart, and got a spot on the Khan show anyway. We're starting to see a real interpromotional relationship develop, and that could be a huge step forward for Hatton Promotions as they continue to grow at a rapid rate.

Herbie Hide in Court on Rape Charge

Former heavyweight titlist Herbie Hide appeared in court on Friday on charges of a November rape. Hide entered no plea. The 39-year-old Hide has been essentially a non-factor for over a decade at this point, since his 1999 KO-2 loss to Vitali Klitschko. I'd heard nothing about the charge before now, but it may have just been something I missed.

Yo, Paulie

Hey, you know you like it when Paul Malignaggi talks. Chris Robinson of BoxingScene.com interviewed "The Magic Man," who gave his thoughts on his own career, Morales-Maidana, Berto-Ortiz, Khan-McCloskey, and Devon Alexander. It's definitely worth a read, but here's a tidbit:

"When you look at a guy like Alexander, and he quits like that, it makes you question if he really had it that bad.  I don't know. To me, a person that really comes from nothing and a person that comes from somewhere they don't want to be anymore and they don't want to be there - they will stop at nothing to go back. Even if you are at death's doorstep. Alexander was far from being at death's doorstep. He just got head butted and cried a lot and then he quit."

Well, he's never at a loss for words, is he?

• Tim Smith thinks that Andre Ward is the only bright spot in the Super Six. I have to admit, any time a fighter gets this much praise lavished on him, I just start feeling like a letdown is coming. Probably not against Arthur Abraham, though.
• You'd think we might want a guy to beat Caleb Grummet a little more convincingly before we start writing articles about his world champion aspirations, but maybe that's just me.
• Breidis Prescott will be back on Friday Night Fights on April 22, headlining against Bayan Jargal. Demetrius Andrade will be in the co-feature. That night's main event was originally scheduled to be Delvin Rodriguez-Michael Medina. Jargal is from Mongolia originally, and is 2-1-2 in his last five.
  
• Costa Rican heavyweight Carl Davis Drumond was arrested yesterday. No word on the reason, but it would not be his first scrape with the law.
• In funnier law news, Frank Bruno was stopped by two policemen on suspicion of stealing his own car. Well, I'm sure it wasn't very funny for Frank, but it's a pretty funny story from the outside. As usual, Bruno had a money quote: "They recognised me, like Tom and Jerry, and Peter Pan, and Batman."