An impressive KO victory over Chazz Witherspoon on HBO “Boxing After Dark” gave the Arreola camp the leverage it needed for another HBO show. Should Arreola look impressive against the sturdy Tua, a fight with Samuel Peter is the next likely target for the Arreola camp.

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Khadaphi Proctor vs. Carlos Tangrago: Super Lightweights

Proctor wins the four round bout by majority decision.

Miguel Albaras vs. Luis Cruz: Featherweights

Cruz wins by TKO at 1:39 of round three.

Steve Quinones vs. Dennis Laurente: Lightweights

Laurente wins by TKO. Knocked down twice in round four, Quinones is unable to come out for round five.

Alex Ali Baba vs. Jesus Rojas: Super Bantamweight.

Rojas wins by TKO at 1:18 of round eight.

Steven Luevano vs. Mario Santiago: Featherweights. For WBO title.

With the first fight of HBO’s televised card coming up, the press is filing in with a little more urgency. There was just enough time between bouts for this writer to go to the press room and shove a hamburger down the gullet. They cook those things rare here at the Mandalay Bay. Very rare.

The fighters are entering the ring and the crowd is whooping and hollering as well as a one quarter capacity crowd can.

It’s cold in here. Here’s hoping the fighters heat the place up.

One of the busiest first rounds Luevano has had. Luevano gets the round on the harder shots.

The fighters trade knock downs in round two. Luevano is throwing everything hard. He might be a little too concerned about looking impressive on HBO.

The pace slows in round three. Both fighters are loading up big hooks. Both are landing them.

Halfway through round four Luevano backs Santiago up after getting his own mouthpiece knocked out. I’ve never seen Luevano fight this aggressively before.

Luevano looks like the stronger fighter at this point.

Round five. Is this Vazquez/Marquez 3? Crowd applauds a mighty exchange with Santiago working Luevano against the ropes. I’ve stopped keeping score. Who cares? It’s a great fight.

More bombs in round six, although the pace slowed a bit. Who can blame them?

Santiago backing Luevano up in round seven.

Round eight and Luevano is backing himself up, trying to lure Santiago in for a hard counter. Santiago stepped with his man and landed a hard right. Luevano fired back and both men were cutting loose before the bell.

Luevano’s left eye is swollen and he looks the more tired of the two fighters.

Round ten repeats the pattern–Santiago backs Luevano to the ropes with a hard combination, then Luevano fights his way off.

Championship rounds:

Luevano stalking now, as if he believes he is behind. Santiago works the outside, as if he believes he’s ahead. Round twelve on its way.

Luevano got the best of round twelve as seen from press row. Moderate pace, but excellent considering the effort expended by both young men. Decision on the way…

It’s a draw ! 117-111 Luevano, 115-113 Santiago, 114-114 even.

Tye Fields vs. Monte Barrett: Heavyweights

Barrett lands a counter right over a looooong left (Fields is 6″7″) and stuns Fields then follows up with a combination that leaves Tye gazing skyward. Fields is counted out at 57 seconds of round one. The end of an era that never was.

Fransisco Lorenzo vs. Humberto Soto: Super featherweights.

Round two and Soto is just plain bigger and stronger. This could be a beating.

Round four: Lorenzo, who is taking the prognosticated beating, complains of being hit behind the head and referee, Joe Cortez, calls time. After several minutes delay, Soto is disqualified for hitting Lorenzo while Lorenzo is down. The crowd isn’t happy.

The alleged foul occured several seconds after Cortez jumped between the two fighters as if stopping the fight in Soto’s favor, then allowing the fight to continue. Bizarre.

Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz: Lightweights.

The arena isn’t empty anymore. The Filipinos are here. All of them.

Fighters are being introduced by Michael Buffer.

Pac beating Diaz to the punch in round one. No serious damage done. Pac round.

Diaz landed a couple good shots in round two, but Pac doing a great job of landing a combination then stepping to the side. Pac round.

Diaz bleeding from his right eye in round three. What took him so long? Pac round.

Round four: Pac just too fast for Diaz. Pac round.

The right side of Diaz’s face is covered in blood during round five. Pac is pot-shotting now. Pac round.

Round six goes to Pac for all the same reasons, but Diaz isn’t going anywhere. Pac may have to pace himself a bit.

Pac collects round seven.

Diaz nose bloodied now. Pac backing Diaz up at will in round eight. This one might get stopped soon. Pac round.

Diaz trying fients to sucker Pac in. Diaz Down! Fight Over! Pacquiao wins by KO with a short left hand as Diaz dropped his guard trying to land his own left to the body of Pacquiao. Fight stopped at 2:24 of round nine.

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After a nervous first three rounds in which Lorenzo’s speed and size obviously bothered Marquez, the veteran southpaw began reading and ducking the young Dominican’s rights then going to the body. By the middle rounds Marquez pulled an effective jab out of his quiver and kept the less experienced Lorenzo turning, unable to plant his feet and land the big right hand he had kept cocked all night.

A bad cut over his right eye and a late surge by an increasingly desperate Lorenzo weren’t enough discourage Marquez, who entered the fight as the IBF #4 ranked middleweight and exited as the IBF mandatory for Arthur Abraham, who also won at the Hard Rock tonight, scoring a fourth round KO over Edison Miranda.

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Both men are tall at around 6′4″ or 6′5″ but that’s just about where the similarities end. Arreola is the prototypical Mexican brawler who stands in front of his opponent and beats him down, while Witherspoon, cousin of the talented but underachieving ’80s heavyweight, Tim Witherspoon, is more the craftsman with his polished jab, rights, and hooks, as well as a good grasp of defensive fundamentals.

Since he is a 6′4″ Mexican heavyweight, Arreola is inherently more marketable than Chazz, a black man from Philly, and may well have the edge should the scorecards be close. Yes, that’s cynical, but it’s also real.

In the gym, Arreola doesn’t always overwhelm you with his work ethic, often leaving observers to wonder why he showed up in the first place. On the other hand, Witherspoon’s discipline, evident in his university degree as well as his advanced boxing skills, reinforces the idea that he takes his work seriously and is mentally, as well as physically, prepared to do his job come fight night.

That’s not to say that Arreola isn’t willing to work in the ring, he is, and then some, but it seems he relies a little too heavily on his volume punching style to make the difference in his fights. So far, against mostly soft touches, that strategy has worked out just fine, and it certainly is crowd-pleasing, but sooner or later, possibly this Saturday night, the lack of pugilistic subtlety could become a glaring lack of skills. It’s Witherspoon’s job to make sure that happens.

The fight will be featured on HBO Boxing After Dark.

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The fight, promoted by Goosen Tutor Promotions along with Top Rank, is billed as “Last Chance” (uh-huh) and will be televised live on Fox Sports Network’s “The Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

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Those jabs and right hands from the middleweight champion opened up body shots which opened up more head shots which…you get the point. Lockett’s trainer, Enzo Calzaghe, mercifully through in the towel after the third knock down in round three.

On the undercard, Juan Manuel Lopez (22-0, 20 KOs) stunned Daniel Ponce de Leon (34-2, 30 KOs) with a right hook, dropping de Leon, who got up on jello legs, but staggered right back into the fire only to be battered about the ring and finally dropped again by another right hook from Lopez.

Lopez matched de Leon in power, but it was his superior boxing skills that helped him take de Leon’s WBO super bantamweight title. De Leon controlled the first 30 seconds of the fight with his aggressive but awkward attack, while Lopez patiently waited for openings, which de Leon’s rank amateur style provides in abundance.

With an exciting style and enthusiastic Puerto Rican fans (Lopez is from the same town in Puerto Rico that Miguel Cotto is from), the 24-year-old Lopez can expect a lucrative career under promoter Bob Arum’s wing.

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Dear Media:
It is with a heavy heart that I write you this message today. I have decided to permanently retire from boxing. This decision was not an easy one for me to make as boxing is all I have done since I was a child. However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue in the sport. I have said numerous times and after several of my fights over the past two years that I might not fight again. At the same time, I loved competing and winning and also wanted to continue my career for the fans, knowing they were there for me and enjoyed watching me fight. However, after many sleepless nights and intense soul-searching I realized I could no longer base my decision on anything but my own personal happiness, which I no longer could find. So I have finally made up my mind, spoken to my family, particularly my mother, and made my decision. I am sorry I have to leave the sport at this time, knowing I still have my God-given abilities to succeed and future multi-million dollar paydays ahead, including the one right around the corner. But there comes a time when money doesn’t matter. I just can’t do it anymore. I have found a peace with my decision that I have not felt in a long time. Finally, I want to personally thank all of my fans for their loyalty and dedication as my career comes to a close. I always believed that their enthusiasm and support helped carry me to victory with every fight I ever had. It was a great joy to have fought for all of you. Now I hope you understand my decision and wish me well with the rest of my life.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.

While there will, no doubt, be those who suggest that Mayweather is retiring to avoid mixing it up with Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito et al, If these are the same people that lament the inability of fighters to retire before their neurological health is ruined for good, they should just shut up.

Mayweather has been boxing since he was in grade school, has made millions during an undefeated career, and is now bored with the the sport. If he wants to retire with all his synapses still firing, then bless him. The truth is, most of those who complain about Mayweather–or any other fighter, for that matter–ducking other fighters, have taken no greater risk in their lives than to eat the occasional high cholesterol dinner.

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Daniel Cervantes wins by unanimous decision, four rounds to zero.

Junior Featherweights: Antonio Escalante vs. David Martinez

Escalante wins by TKO with left hook to the body in round three. Time of stoppage: 2:08.

Michael Franco vs. Benito Abraham: Bantamweights

Franco TKOs Abraham in second round. Abraham went down after a flurry from Franco late in the round, but got up and started firing back. A right uppercut to the body of Abraham in the middle of an exchange crumpled him again. Up at eight, Abraham told the referee he had had enough. Time of stoppage: 2:59

MAIN EVENT

Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Mauricio Pastrana: Junior Featherweights

Gonzalez wins by TKO in round four. A right hand from Gonzalez hurt Pastrana, backing him up and allowing Gonzalez to land a the combination that dropped him. Up before the count of ten, Pastrana faced an emboldened Gonzalez, who sent the veteran back to the ropes with a flurry. The referee had seen enough by then and called the fight at 2:32 of the round.

Anthony Villareal vs. Jaime Gutierrez: Flyweights

Villareal dropped Gutierrez in round two on his way to a unanimous decision, four round victory.

Javier Castro vs. Ramon Guevara: Junior Welterweights

Castro knocked Guevara down three times in round one to earn himself a KO. The referee stopped the fight at 2:32 of the first.

Eduardo Escobedo vs. Javier Cintron: Junior Lightweights

Cintron’s corner stops the fight after the first round. TKO for Escobedo

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“We are already in discussions with all parties involved to attempt to reschedule the fight for the near future,” said Schaefer.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Judah suffered the injury when he fell in the shower. FightTube will have more details as they become available.

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