Bad Left Hook

Kessler-Ward Weigh-In Live at 5pm ET

2009-11-20T19:04:59Z

Where's Waldo? He's in Oakland. Waldo Rastel (better known to many of you as waldo47) is on the scene today for the official weigh-in for tomorrow night's Super Six tournament fight between WBA super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler and unbeaten American and former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward.

Waldo covered the press conference a couple of days ago, and will have live updates again today in the comments section of this post, including the weights as they come in. The whole shebang is scheduled to start at 2pm local time in California, so 5pm ET. No word on whether or not there will be another high school cheerleading performance.

Don't forget that Bad Left Hook will also have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring tomorrow night starting at 10pm ET.

Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Rendall Munroe v. Simone Maludrottu

2009-11-20T18:30:41Z

For an in-depth preview of this European junior featherweight title fight, check out our friends at The Boxing Bulletin.

Our live coverage will start at 4:30pm ET with round-by-round in the comments of this post, and real time analysis. If you have an SBN account, you won't need to refresh at all.

RENDALL MUNROE		SIMONE MALUDROTTU
	Main Event

Record:	19-1 (8 KO)	Record:	30-2 (11 KO)
Age:	29	Age:	31
Hometown:	Leicester, England	Hometown:	Olbia, Italy
Height:	5'7"	Height:	5'5"
Reach:	68"	Reach:	66"
Ranks/Titles:	European Junior Featherweight, #12 BoxRec	Ranks/Titles:	#27 BoxRec
TV:	Sky Sports, 4:30pm ET	Venue:	Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre - Nottingham, England

Why Pacquiao-Mayweather needs to be in Vegas

2009-11-20T17:44:09Z

Lately, there's been a lot of noise that Bob Arum is putting out feelers to have a Pacquiao-Mayweather superfight in a location other than Las Vegas. He's already spoken to Jerry Jones about using the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. There have been some quieter rumors about looking at Wembley Stadium in the UK. But at the end of the day, the fight needs to be in Vegas, and it has nothing to do with the fight atmosphere.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are both in it for the money

Heck, Mayweather even goes by the name "Money" these days. Pacquaio often comes across as being a bit more altruistic, but he cares about the dollars as well. He threatened to put the kabosh on his fight with Ricky Hatton until Hatton agreed to a 50/50 split of UK revenues. And whoever promotes the fight, the promoter surely stands more to gain by having the fight in the most profitable location rather than the most significant location. To figure out where the fight would be held, you need to follow the green brick road.

You can charge exorbitant ticket prices in Vegas

One great thing about the Nevada State Athletic Commission is that they actually publish all of their live gates, so you know how much a fight has made just off the ticket sales. The all-time high live gate was Mayweather-De La Hoya, which brought in over $18 million in ticket sales. Mayweather-Hatton brought in over $10 million. Pacquiao-Hatton and Pacquiao-Cotto both brought in about $8 million. This means that Mayweather-De La Hoya was able to average over $1,000 per ticket. Even the lowest of these, Pacquiao-Hatton, averaged about $575 per ticket. Figure that a megafight of this magnitude would be somewhere in the middle, but probably closer to the record. Splitting the baby, which I think is conservative, they would be able to sell 17,000 tickets at about $800 a pop. That brings in $13.6 million in live gate alone. Nowhere else in the world is there enough money just waiting to be spent that you can average a ticket price that high.

The casinos are willing to pay...

For the biggest fights, casinos are willing to pay massive site fees in order to retain a fight. If you have a huge fight, tons of people (not just the people buying tickets) end up in the casino, and at the end of the day, the house wins more money than it spends from the extra gamblers. Mayweather-Hoya was rumored to have a site fee in the $15 - $20 million range, although no official number was released. Mayweather-Hatton had a $7 million site fee. Even a dud like Hopkins-Calzaghe got an $8 million site fee from Planet Hollywood. Conservatively, the site fee for a fight this big should be around $10 million, and it could be much larger than that. That brings revenues from holding the fight in Vegas up to around $23.6 million, and possibly as high as around $35 million.

...and others aren't

Once upon a time, there were mysterious benefactors who wanted to pay for the biggest fights in order to bring publicity to their countries. To host the Rumble in the Jungle, President Mobutu paid Don King a site fee of $10 million (about $35 million in 2009 dollars). I just can't think of any benefactor who would be willing to come up with that kind of coin to have the fight hosted in their hometown. Bob Arum's been talking for years about having a big fight in Dubai, but it would probably cost someone $30 million out of pocket to make it worth everyone's while to hold a fight over there. With budget crunches everywhere, it's unlikely that anyone would be willing to pay a huge site fee unless they pretty much know they'll be getting the money back, like a casino.

The fight needs to be indoors

This one's pretty self-explanatory. In the past, there have been major fights aired in temporary outdoor stadiums, but that just can't happen. First, the liability is too great these days to have a large temporary stadium. Second, if a fight gets rained out, everyone loses lots of money. It wasn't such a big deal when fights were being aired on network TV - if there's a rainout on World Wide of Sports, they can just put the fight on next week's edition, and everyone's pretty happy. But in a pay-per-view situation, a rescheduled fight would probably require months of remarketing to ensure that they do not lose massive sales. This precludes a lot of otherwise attractive venues from being feasible.

To make up the difference, you need a massive venue with high ticket prices

Even assuming that a fight at the MGM Grand would only generate $23.6 million, in order to make more money than in Vegas, you would need to sell out a 100,000 person stadium at an average price of $236 a ticket. A 65,000 seat stadium would need to sell at an average price of $363 a ticket. A 40,000 seat venue (i.e., a baseball stadium with a retractable roof) would need to sell at an average price of nearly $600 a ticket. And to achieve as much upside as Vegas' potential, you'd need to increase those average ticket prices by 50%. Outside of Vegas, where are you going to find enough people with that kind of money? In addition, when looking at these averages, you need to keep in mind that you can't charge nearly as much for a majority of the seats in the venue, simply because tens of thousands of people aren't going to pay $300 for nosebleed seats.

While holding the fight in a huge venue outside of Vegas is an intriguing idea, it's just not that feasible. Without some deep pocket guaranteeing a lot of cash on the side, it's unlikely that a fight outside of Vegas could generate more revenue than a fight in Vegas. And in this economy, I don't know if anyone's ego is that big.

Cotto-Pacquiao does 1.25 million buys on pay-per-view

2009-11-20T17:16:05Z

HBO has released the numbers, and the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao fight last Saturday generated 1.25 million buys on pay-per-view, beating out Mayweather-Marquez as the biggest boxing event of 2009. The fight generated $70 million in pay-per-view revenue to go along with its $8.84 million live gate.

The 1.25 million number equals what Pacquiao did a year ago against Oscar de la Hoya, though it doesn't quite reach the larger numbers that were being bandied about this week. Bob Arum said he thought it was looking like about 1.3 million, and he turned out to be correct. Usually, Bob is one of those going high, but I think this number more than pleases everyone involved.

Hatton-Pacquiao in May was a big success. Mayweather-Marquez was a phenomenal success. And this fight -- bigger than both -- is just more proof that if you put together fights and build guys right, boxing is far, far from dead.

I would have said six months ago that a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight approaching the all-time PPV record set by Oscar and Floyd back in 2007 would have been impossible, but now I think there's a real chance there. Breaking two million buys is damn hard. In fact, Oscar-Floyd is the only fight that has ever done it, with Lewis-Tyson being No. 2 all-time at 1.99 million.

But I think Mayweather-Pacquiao can do it. I don't know if they will, but HBO has already said they'll be putting unheard of backing behind this must-see event should the parties work out a deal, and it seems to just about all of us that a deal not getting worked out is almost unthinkable. Way too much money to be made.

Boxing is on a nice little roll this year, and really has been the last few years or so. Slowly but surely, the mainstream media is starting to get over their "boxing is dead" obsession, and I'm hoping that a Floyd-Manny fight will be the last time I ever have to read articles from basketball writers titled, "The fight to get boxing off the ropes," or what have you.

Congratulations to HBO, Top Rank and of course, the fighters.

Mandatory Eight Count: Kessler-Ward Edition

2009-11-20T16:53:17Z

I don't know if you've heard, but Andre Ward has a really big chance to make a name for himself tomorrow.

Ward's Super chance at breakthrough (Yahoo! Sports)
Kevin Iole looks at Andre Ward, the Olympic gold medalist and nice man: "I would imagine it’s a problem fighting Andre Ward. He’s such a nice guy, you want to hug him rather than punch him in the nose. He’s polite to a fault, he smiles easily and he’s never got a bad word to say about anyone."

Round One’s Almost Done (Max Boxing)
Julian Kasdin's take on the fight. "This fight is taking place in Andre’s hometown, and while there are some doubts as to whether Mikkel is still the fighter to beat at 168, I do not think Ward will be the one to beat him."

Andre Ward Vs. Mikkel Kessler On Saturday (The Sweet Science)
David A. Avila compares Ward to another former American gold medalist, Oscar de la Hoya, and has some solid quotes from Ward. The best: "If I didn’t expect to beat every man in this tournament then I shouldn’t be in this tournament."

Notebook: Ward ready to fight for title (ESPN)
Dan Rafael quotes Ward as being very ready for the fight. "I've been here before with the Olympics and it's something that I relish. There's always going to be pressure. It just depends on how you deal with the pressure."

Andre Ward – American Hero, Take Two (Boxing Scene)
Thomas Gerbasi says Ward is -- get this! -- ready. (Well, Ward says it in his column.)

Kessler all set for Ward defence (BBC Sport)
Believe it or not, some people are actually focusing on Mikkel Kessler a little bit.

USA hopes riding on Ward (USA Today)
Hacksaw Jim Duggan will be rooting for Ward, tough guy.

Can Ward take a punch? We'll find out (San Francisco Chronicle)
Kessler's trainer doesn't think Ward likes to get hit. Ward wonders who has ever hit Kessler to show how good his chin is.

Colombian Likar Ramos captured an interim super featherweight title by scoring a unanimous decision...

2009-11-20T16:04:12Z

Colombian Likar Ramos captured an interim super featherweight title by scoring a unanimous decision over Angel Granados. Juan Carlos Salgado recently won the regular title by knocking out Jorge Linares in the first round.

Please Welcome The Boxing Bulletin to SBN

2009-11-20T15:17:44Z

I'd like everyone at Bad Left Hook to join me in a warm welcome to The Boxing Bulletin, SBN's newest site and a brother community for us in covering the sweet science. You may already be familiar with the site, as they've been pumping out fantastic analysis for a while now. They're a wonderful team of writers and I couldn't be happier to call them colleagues under the SBN banner.

Some recent highlights from The Boxing Bulletin that will get you familiar with their work:

Pacquiao's Triumph, Cotto's Tragedy by Jeff Pryor

Rendall Munroe-Simone Maludrottu Preview by Matt Chudley (Bad Left Hook will cover this show live at 5pm ET today, and this is as good a preview for the fight as you're going to find)

Boxing's Best Seniors - 10 Big Wins from Fighters Over 40 by Andrew Fruman

Ryan Rhodes-Jamie Moore Photo Gallery (Photographer: Chris Royle)

Interview with Odlanier Solis' Trainers Pedro Diaz & Russ Abner by Ivan Montiel

David Tua Can Still Make Some Noise by Lee Payton

Dirrell, Taylor, Froch and Abraham weigh in on Kessler-Ward

2009-11-20T13:32:44Z

The other four participants of the Super Six World Boxing Classic have made their picks for tomorrow night's final stage one battle between Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward in Oakland.

Andre Dirrell:

"I'm going with Ward. Ward has the ability to win. This is his biggest fight so he'll have to stick to his game plan but I'm going with him."

Dirrell and Ward were Olympic teammates, so Andre is surely rooting for Andre. Plus it would probably help everyone if the Americans could come out of the first stage with even one win. If Ward loses convincingly, there's going to be plenty of talk that none of the Americans really deserved to be here.

Jermain Taylor:

"Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler will be a very competitive fight and both want to make a statement in the Super Six tournament. I think the key to the fight depends on who will dictate and set the pace in the early rounds. Both fighters have a lot of skills and will be well prepared to do battle. It's a very close fight to make a prediction on. I would call the fight a toss-up."

Try not to get too bold, Jermain.

Carl Froch:

"Mikkel Kessler will win because of his strength and ring experience. I'm looking forward to it because obviously it's a fight that has major implications for me in the Super Six tournament. Andre Ward has that terrific amateur pedigree, winning the Gold medal at the Athens Olympics. He's had some good wins in the pros but we will only find out how good he really is when he steps in there with Kessler."

Kessler is next for Froch, and since Froch is one of those guys that genuinely seems to want his fights to be challenges, he's rooting for Kessler so that he can knock off the tournament favorite and take his title in his next fight:

"Ward will have the benefit of home advantage, which I'm sure will play its part but Kessler is very experienced and has won on the road before so I'm sure he won't see it as an issue. I'm hoping for my own selfish reasons that Kessler wins because then he'll still have the WBA belt. I'm fighting him next so if he beats Ward then it means that our fight becomes a massive WBC and WBA unification clash and I can get my hands on his belt."

Kessler's previous road wins: Israel Ponce in Las Vegas (2000), Anthony Mundine in Australia (2005) and Danilo Haussler in Germany (2008). Not exactly Murderer's Row.

Arthur Abraham:

"Because I have not ever seen an Andre Ward fight live or on tape, I cannot say much. But Kessler is the favorite in this fight nevertheless. I have seen Kessler fight many times and he is very clever and very strong. I have to give the advantage to Kessler because of his strength, experience and cleverness. Andre Ward is not to be underestimated. He is very good. He is technically very sound and can also punch hard as he has shown in previous fights. But I hope that my new stablemate, Mikkel Kessler, wins."

Abraham's statement is my favorite. It's mind-boggling to me that he's never seen Andre Ward fight, even on tape, and he also goes from telling us he's never seen him to describing his technical skills and how hard he can punch. How would he know?! Knockout rates? Olympic pedigree? You know what happens when you assume, Arthur.

Cotto-Pacquiao destroys Mayweather-Marquez at the gate

2009-11-20T13:03:00Z

USA Today's J. Michael Falgoust reports that the November 14 fight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao was a big live success in Las Vegas, blowing out the Mayweather-Marquez fight from September in money drawn at the gate and tickets sold.

The gate from last weekend's showdown between Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto— which will air on HBO Saturday (10 p.m. ET/PT) — was $8.84 million with 15,470 tickets sold.

That's 3,500 more tickets sold and $2 million more than what Mayweather's comeback from a near two-year layoff drew when he fought Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in September on Mexican independence weekend.

Most interesting to me was this comparison, which probably highlights the difference in demographics between the crowds. Cotto-Pacquiao had the MGM filled with people who wanted to see the fight. Mayweather-Marquez had the MGM almost filled with people who came to see the big boxing show in Las Vegas.

No tickets were sold beneath face value for Pacquiao-Cotto. For Mayweather's bout, 94 tickets were sold at 50% discount and 895 were comps, or giveaways while just 46 comps were doled out for Pacquiao-Cotto.

And then there's PPV, which will have figures released later today. The Mayweather camp is already excusing themselves from the comparison by saying that Pacquiao "had a dance partner," apparently operating now under the idea that Juan Manuel Marquez is a bum with no fans, while selling us beforehand on Marquez's ability to draw in the Mexican audience as one of the reasons they chose to fight him in the first place.

They'll go back to pointing at their better numbers with Oscar and Hatton, not acknowledging the fact that Oscar and Hatton were both better "dance partners" when Floyd fought them than when Pacquiao fought them, and that Pacquiao also fought both in a recession. And they'll say, "I did a million homes with Marquez! But guess what! Guess what! But guess what! Guess what! He only did 400,000," except they probably won't even say 400,000, they'll say something lower than that, which might mean that Pacquiao-Marquez at 130 pounds in 2008 is about equal to Floyd's riveting fight with Carlos Baldomir in 2006. But hey, who's counting?

Floyd and Manny have become big stars in pretty much the exact same way. They were both noted as great fighters, but as draws, they were what they were. Manny was pretty good for his size -- again, nobody has ever sold more PPVs at that weight or lower than Pacquiao-Marquez II sold -- and Floyd just never quite got rolling.

Oscar de la Hoya made them both PPV forces. They took that momentum and ran with it. Floyd did it with his personality first, and his great skill second. Manny did it with his ferocious performances first, and a personality second, a personality that is something that I think American fans are just in love with at this point. The casual boxing fans out there barely recognized in a pre-MP world that there are Filipino boxers, let alone this force of nature.

If you want to be black and white about it, and make it really, really simple, then let's say it this way:

Floyd outdrew Manny with Oscar, Hatton and Marquez;
Manny's numbers with all three of them were excellent;
Manny looks to have just smoked Floyd with guys who were similar-level stars.

Floyd will want to talk about the past, Manny will want to talk about right now, and they'll continue to bicker for a little while.

A few "internet rumors"

2009-11-20T12:50:30Z

A few "internet rumors"

Tomasz Adamek's next fight could be against Hasim Rahman, according to Polsat. His next fight will be early February in New Jersey at heavyweight, no matter who the opponent.
Marco Antonio Barrera may still be shooting for a title in a fourth weight class. He's trying to get a fight with Paulus Moses, currently the weakest of the lightweight titlists.
More than just a rumor - Carlos Quintana will face Jesse Feliciano on the untelevised Williams-Martinez undercard.
Edison Miranda may be getting in position for another title shot already. His team is starting to lay groundwork for a shot at Robert Stieglitz. Miranda has some name value in Germany due to his war with Arthur Abraham.
Wapakman causing a fuss in the Philippines. Movie may be pulled if it would violate election law, and there are heavy rumors of an affair with his female costar Krista Ranillo.

Mayweather-Pacquiao: Arum becomes psychologist, Ellerbe says there is a backup plan

2009-11-20T12:44:25Z

Leonard Ellerbe (right) says that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will look to fight Shane Mosley if a mega fight with Manny Pacquiao can't be made. (Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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With the 2010 mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao uncertain but the talk of boxing, the quotes just keep coming in.

Bob Arum told Larry Fine of Reuters that he fears Mayweather will back out due to the risk of losing the "0" on his record:

"Psychologically he may not be prepared to do this fight," Pacquaio promoter Arum added.

"Now this is me being an amateur psychologist, but Mayweather is so tied up with the fact that nobody has beaten him, that he has a zero on his record, I don't know if he would be willing to go into the ring with anybody that could jeopardize that zero."

This isn't the first time Arum has said something like this, and he wasn't done on the matter there, either.

"He is afraid, terrified of losing that zero," said Arum, possibly in an effort to goad Mayweather into making the match.

"That's why he's ducked (Shane) Mosely, (Antonio) Margarito and Cotto, and the question is will he duck Manny Pacquiao because he's so afraid of losing that zero."

* * * * * * * * * *

Manny Pacquiao himself is now playing a Floyd-like game. He told the Inquirer that Floyd should challenge him, not the other way around, as Mayweather has been saying:

"We are not pushing the fight. He should be the first to challenge me; after all, I got a higher pay-per-view from my fight," Pacquiao said.

Since I find it so catty and juvenile that Floyd needs Manny to ask him to the prom, I'll say the same thing for Manny's side. Just cut the crap. Without each other, the fighters make significantly less money. They both know it. They're playing some sort of weird little high school game with this. "All he has to do is challenge me." "No he should challenge me!" If we wait for that to play out, we'll be here until the reign of Queen Dick.

* * * * * * * * * *

From the Mayweather side, Leonard Ellerbe spoke with Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, and said they definitely have a backup plan should negotiations with Pacquiao and Top Rank prove fruitless.

"If the fight can't be made, we'll fight Shane Mosley if he can get past Berto."

Sort of makes you wonder what's changed and made Mosley so much more attractive.

Winky Wright and Grady Brewer hype it up

2009-11-20T01:42:41Z

Winky Wright can apparently expect a war from Grady Brewer on December 11. What are the odds?

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A press release hyping the fight between Grady Brewer and Winky Wright warns of an impending war in Puerto Rico on December 11. The two will meet in a main event fight available on budget pay-per-view in the United States.

From Winky:

"Just like Columbus discovered Puerto Rico hundreds of years ago, December 11 will be the day that I discover victory once again and show the world that I am still one of the best fighters in the sport today," said Wright. "I feel great, and I'm ready for a hard fight. Brewer is coming in with high hopes. I'm preparing to deflate those hopes on fight night."

From Grady:

"When I meet Winky, it's going to be a battle," said Brewer. "Unlike Columbus who took Puerto Rico without a fight, Winky should expect a war on fight night."

The last time I saw Grady Brewer, he stunk out the joint against Cornelius Bundrage in one of the most mind-numbingly boring televised fights of 2008. Since then, he's won a couple of fights by quick knockout, so who knows? Maybe he's gotten more aggressive. At 38, the former "Contender" champ is probably getting his last chance at romance with this fight.

I like looking over a record like Grady's. He has losses to Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor, and he actually lost to Pavlik before he lost to Taylor. But he also hasn't lost since May 2005. Boxing is weird, even considering the level of competition he's been beating (mostly "iffy' at best).

Then again, Winky hasn't won a fight since December 2006. Can you believe it's been three years since Winky Wright has won a fight? Three years!

This PPV is bananas.

Z Gorres improving rapidly

2009-11-20T00:23:27Z

The condition of Filipino boxer Z Gorres has dramatically improved in recent days, according to an official statement from ALA Boxing Gym.

Dr. Michael Casey, the trauma surgeon who performed emergency surgery on Gorres last Friday night in Las Vegas, said that he was happy with Gorres' recovery thus far.

Michael Aldeguer of ALA had this to say about the fighter's condition:

"Z has a good chance to live a functional life, not necessarily yet a normal life for now, because he may need to rehabilitate his left side which may need time. He is not critical anymore but still in a serious situation. However, in the next 48 hours they may get him off the ventilator. He has also reacted to certain commands though not yet consistent. According to Dr. Casey, the progress of Z is remarkable and is normally seen in two weeks but because Z is young and in great health he responded well in only five days. We are pleased to hear the news and would like to thank everyone for all the prayers that we know that have helped Z recover from the biggest fight of his life. Thank you. Please continue to pray for Z."

We'll continue to keep tabs on Gorres' condition, but so far the news has been stellar since the surgery.

Officials changed for Kessler-Ward, WBA sanctions fight

2009-11-19T23:50:58Z

Mikkel Kessler's WBA super middleweight title will be on the line against Andre Ward on Saturday.

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Ramon Aranda of 411 Mania reports that the California State Athletic Commission has acted quickly to comply with the contracts of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, changing the disputed officials for Saturday night's Mikkel Kessler-Andre Ward fight.

Russ Heimerich, a spokesman of the California State Athletic Commission informed 411mania moments ago that the commission has now come to terms with both the WBA and Team Sauerland on a new set of officials.

The officials will now include Swedish judge Mikael Hook alongside Steve Morrow (Calif) and Stanley Christodoulou (South Africa) along with referee Jack Reiss (Calif).

As we discussed earlier today, the contracts called for one judge from Ward's "territory," one from Kessler's (a Scandinavian country), one neutral judge, and a neutral referee. Stanley Christodoulou was already in place as the neutral referee. Mikael Hook replaces California's Steve English. With a neutral referee likely harder to get on such short notice than a judge, Jack Reiss will stay in the spot. Reiss is a fine referee and shouldn't show any favoritism to Ward, so I expect no issue there. In a perfect world, I'm sure the Kessler side would have a referee from England or Canada or the like, but this was a commission screw-up and they made it as right as possible 48 hours before the fight.

After all that, Kessler's WBA super middleweight title will be on the line. It really made no difference to me whether the title was up for grabs or not, but I'm sure it mattered to Ward and the promoters and the WBA themselves, so it's good it got resolved as quickly as possible.

HBO's Greenburg knows Mayweather-Pacquiao must happen

2009-11-19T18:57:00Z

HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg is vowing to not let a potential super fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao die, reports Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

Greenburg was on the record calling the fight a must-have as soon as Pacquiao had defeated Miguel Cotto this past weekend in Las Vegas. I cannot remember the last time any possible fight in boxing was talked about the way this one has been in the days following Manny's last win, and Greenburg has to go back a bit to remember similar situations, too:

"It's rare when you have the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world both in their prime in the same weight class," Greenburg said. "And when that happens you seize the opportunity. I've lived through Leonard-Hagler, Leonard-Hearns. That's exactly where we were in 1981 [with Leonard-Hearns I], and the fight had to get made. The public demanded it and the fighters demanded it. And so there's no gray area. As far as the split, why hassle? Just do what Ali and Frazier did in 1971 -- split it in half. I'll go on record. What's a percentage point here or there to satisfy somebody's ego?"

He also promises to go the extra mile -- or ten -- to promote the fight:

"I don't know what the final number will be but I know if we're going to do this fight, we have to do it out of the box and we have to treat it as a Super Bowl. We have to put all of our energy into every angle of the promotion and the production and the site and treat it as a true Super Bowl, and that means generating a lot more money than we ever have generated."

Greenburg mentioned the possibility of adding a fifth episode -- instead of the usual four -- to the run of the Emmy Award-winning series "24/7" following the buildup to the fight.

"Everything about this fight is bigger than other fights," he said.

Greenburg could not be more right, and it's good to see he's taking a leading role to try to make this happen. HBO has essentially become a boxing promoter over the years in many ways, and that can mean good and bad things depending on the situation. But in this situation, I think it can only help.

Kevin Johnson not worried about inexperience against Vitali Klitschko

2009-11-19T18:38:16Z

Kevin Johnson will challenge Vitali Klitschko on December 12 in Switzerland. The unbeaten American has high hopes. (Photo via Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing)

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A Star Boxing press release featuring unbeaten heavyweight contender Kevin Johnson paints the next challenger to Vitali Klitschko as a confident but respectful young fighter heading into his December 12 shot at glory.

"Since the Europeans took over the heavyweight division, boxing lost some of its appeal. The average American walking down the street couldn't tell you who the champ is. When I think of great fighters I think of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson. When these guys were champs, they were icons in this great nation. The Klitschkos are a temporary mistake and I'm going to fix that mistake for good."

Despite that brash statement, he also considers Vitali the only true heavyweight "champion" out there, and points to his willingness to defend against young, undefeated fighters:

"I give Vitali a lot of respect for giving me this opportunity. He is a true champion that doesn't duck anybody. Of all the champions he is the only one who has stepped up and given us young guys, such as Chris Arreola and myself a chance to fight for his championship."

Johnson also says he won't fight the way the lumbering Samuel Peter or the overmatched Arreola did:

"If he wants to fight, I'll go toe-to-toe with him and use my speed to knock him out. I want to make things clear for everyone; I'm not Cristobal Arreola, or Sam Peter. If he stands in front of me with his hands down, I'll hit him ten times before he can land once. It's going to be a short night for him if he tries that amateur stuff with me."

Johnson is counting on his youth, speed and technique to make a difference, saying nobody besides Lennox Lewis has ever brought that sort of complete skillset against Vitali.

I'll say this. A year or two ago, I wasn't too high on "Kingpin," but the more I've watched him mature, the more I like him, and I think he has an actual shot at upsetting Vitali on December 12. I'm not picking him to win the fight, nor do I think it's anywhere near likely, but a Johnson decision win would not completely flatten me with shock or anything. And he's right: Vitali deserves some genuine respect for fighting guys like Arreola and Johnson instead of the Oleg Maskaevs of the world.

HBO will air Klitschko-Johnson on tape delay in the United States as part of a triple-header, paired with the Diaz-Malignaggi rematch and Victor Ortiz's return from Chicago.

Juan Manuel Marquez Speaks: Pacquiao, not Hatton, is first choice

2009-11-19T18:18:31Z

Juan Manuel Marquez would prefer a third fight with Manny Pacquiao to come next, and not the rumored bout with Ricky Hatton. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Lightweight world champion Juan Manuel Marquez told a Mexican radio station (link via BoxingScene.com) that his first choice for a return bout would be a trilogy fight with his great rival Manny Pacquiao, and that only if that fight can't be made would he look to fight Ricky Hatton in England. Both fights have been talked about this week, with Hatton indicating he'll come back in 2010 and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum saying that Marquez would Pacquiao's next option if a super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't possible.

I already made my feelings on Pacquiao-Marquez III pretty clear, and Pacquiao himself seems to have no interest in the fight, feeling the public won't buy it. Thinking about it a bit more, it's a fight I'd surely buy, because both men are fighters that deserve my money and have given me more than "enough" entertainment over the years. But I really don't have any more interest in Pacquiao-Marquez III than I did Pacquiao-Morales III or Pacquiao-Barrera II; the end result was pretty obvious in both of those cases, and I think the same is true for this idea, especially since Freddie Roach wants it at 145 pounds and we know Marquez can't carry the weight and keep his speed or power.

I mean, of course Juan Manuel would prefer Pacquiao to Hatton. It's a bigger fight, meaning a bigger purse, more attention, and massive shockwaves if he pulled the upset or even took Manny to the limit for a third time. The last time Pacquiao met much resistance at all was his 2008 rematch with Marquez, which was four Manny fights and three weight classes ago.

One thing I have to admire is that Marquez seriously refuses to believe he can't beat Pacquiao, though. He's 36, slowing down some (still a marvelous boxer), and we've seen Manny get ferociously dominant in the time we've watched Marquez cool off a little bit. But he thinks he beat Manny twice, and he thinks he can do it now. Even though he didn't carry the weight well against Floyd, he probably legitimately thinks he can beat Manny at 145, too. I don't, but Marquez has never lacked for guts, pride or warrior spirit. How many good or even great fighters might have found themselves mentally broken when knocked down three times by Pacquiao in the opening round, as Marquez was in 2004? Or when it was apparent that Manny was the stronger man in the 2008 rematch? Marquez never stopped trying against Floyd, either, he just couldn't do anything with him. The guy has the heart of a lion.

Oh, crap, I'm talking myself into Pacquiao-Marquez III, aren't I?

Kessler-Ward controversy shouldn't be happening

2009-11-19T14:05:49Z

Is Andre Ward going to get biased officiating on Saturday? Mikkel Kessler's team and the WBA are suspicious of the appointed judges and referee. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

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Let's be honest: Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic has not gotten off to the blazing start we hoped it would.

Not one of the three fights has been appreciated solely on its own merits thus far, with Abraham-Taylor focusing more on Taylor's "will he or won't he continue on?" question (he will, he says), and Froch-Dirrell being an ugly, dirty fight with many feeling the wrong man got the W.

Now, the third and final fight of the opening stage of the tournament has problems before fighters Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward even step into the ring. Bad Left Hook commenter waldo47 was live at the press conference yesterday and was able to get some impressions of what went down. Full details have since come out and been made very clear.

In short, Mikkel Kessler's team is unhappy with the appointed officials, including a California referee and two California judges. The fight takes place in Oakland, Ward's hometown.

The WBA might refuse to sanction the bout as a title fight unless the California State Athletic Commission finds judges and a referee who aren't from Ward's home state, Kessler's representatives told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) agreed to travel from Denmark to the hometown of Ward (20-0, 13 KOs), the undefeated Olympic gold medalist, for a lucrative payday in their first bout in the high-profile 168-pound (76-kilogram) tournament.

The contracts signed by each of the tournament's six fighters set out very specific requirements for the nationality of the officials, requiring two judges and the referee to be "from a neutral territory."

Wilfried Sauerland, Kessler's promoter, was told a referee and two judges from California have been assigned to the fight, along with well-known South African judge Stanley Christodoulou.

"Not all the judges can be from California," Sauerland said after a news conference in downtown Oakland. "If it stays like this, definitely there won't be a world championship on Saturday. We have a really serious problem."

The tournament's contracts were, of course, quite specific, and had to be for everything to get rolling and actually happen. Getting six fighters committed to about two years worth of fights, with five promoters in the mix, is not easy. If the appointed officials don't match what the contracts demand, that is a serious problem, and it's something someone has to answer for. How could something like that be overlooked?

The California State Athletic Commission is trying to get something done fast:

"We are aware of the concerns of the promoter, and so we have been working with both the promoter and the sanctioning body to address those concerns, and that process is ongoing," Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the athletic commission, told the AP.

Jake Donovan says that two of four officials need to be replaced, and that Kessler's team wants one of the California judges replaced with a judge from a Scandinavian country (but not Denmark), and wants a neutral referee instead of California ref Jack Reiss, and he has the bit of the contract that makes it quite clear:

"Judges and referees shall be identified, selected and assigned by the athletic commission with jurisdiction over the Bout; provided that in all events, one judge shall be from the Home Territory of each Boxer Participant and the third judge shall be from a neutral territory, and in all cases, the referee shall be from a neutral territory."

Given that language, Kessler's side is absolutely right to have a major problem with the appointed officials. It's short notice, but you have to figure this will get fixed by the end of today. Really, it never should have happened.

Oscar de la Hoya isn't coming back to boxing

2009-11-19T13:41:19Z

I know there are lots of "Is Oscar returning?!" articles out there thanks to a teaser snippet for his appearance on "Lopez Tonight" last night, but no, he isn't. Instead, he made a hilarious joke, pulling a fast one on his squealing female audience and referencing Erik Estrada. Marvel at Oscar's terrible comedic delivery, the overwhelming pleasure he takes in his own joke, and his weird habit of cupping his mouth when he speaks. He also mentions Shaq! This was a monumentally terrible interview.

Vazquez-Marquez IV looks to be back on, Hopkins looking at David Haye

2009-11-19T13:06:49Z

Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez appear likely to meet for a fourth time on February 27 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jacob de Golish / Getty Images)

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Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times that a fourth fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez is looking like a go for February 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

He said Huntington Park's Israel Vazquez has signed to have a fourth fight with Mexico's Rafael Marquez on Feb. 27 at Staples Center. The super-bantamweight champion Vazquez engaged in two fights of the year with Marquez, but endured more than a yearlong layoff after suffering a detached retina in the memorable third fight in March 2008.

Schaefer said Marquez's promoter, Gary Shaw, and Showtime have expressed a strong willingness to make the fourth fight happen, and he expects it will.

A lot of us have said that we're not exactly itching to see Vazquez-Marquez IV, and as much as I love both fighters, I'm one of those people. Vazquez looked like he had almost nothing left in his October return against what was a very questionable opponent. Maybe it was that much rust, but I have my doubts.

But I can't argue with these guys wanting to make some money. Given the wars, they're unlikely to be fighting at the high level much long, or even fighting at all much longer. And a fourth fight with one another is going to pay them more than any other fight can.

I do wonder if Marquez's squabbles with Shaw have been resolved, because apparently that is part of what got in the way a few weeks back when Showtime offered what Shaw remembered as a one-time only deal of $2.5 million for this fight. Shaw seemed willing then to negotiate a buyout with Marquez, so we'll see what has changed.

Schaefer also named a date (March 13) for Jones-Hopkins II should both win their December 2 tune-ups, and says that Hopkins wants to move up to heavyweight and fight David Haye after that. Man, that is an intriguing idea, but I do not see a blown-up, 45-year-old Hopkins beating someone as strong as Haye.