Floyd Mayweather would come out on top against Pacquiao if they fight, says Ricky Hatton

By Billy Sloan, Daily Record

FORMER ring king Ricky Hatton has tipped Floyd Mayweather to win a superfight with Manny Pacquiao if they clash in 2010.

But the Hitman, who has fought and lost against both men, claims the undefeated Pretty Boy is about as exciting to watch as paint dry.

Former world welterweight champ Ricky, 31, said: "I think Mayweather would win because he's just so good defensively and hard to hit.

"Pacquiao gets better with every fight.

I didn't fancy him against Miguel Cotto earlier this month but he smashed him to bits. I was blown away.

"If I had to put money on it I'd tip Mayweather though. He has the style and shuts up shop so you can't nail him.

"Mayweather is so good he doesn't let you get any punches off. If he makes Pacquiao miss he'll take the sting out of him.

"But I'd rather watch Pacquiao though. Mayweather will go down as one of the all time greats but I wouldn't get up at four o'clock in the morning to watch him. He bores the s*** out of me.

"He should have knocked Juan Manuel Marquez out in September but didn't, it was safety first all the time."

Hatton was in Scotland to promote his Team Hitman sports equipment at DW Sports and Fitness Club in the Glasgow Fort shopping mall.

To prepare for his future he has also opened a gym in his home town of Hyde and now looks after a stable of fighters including brother Matthew.

The Hitman has not fought since his devastating loss to Pacquiao in Las Vegas last May. He was knocked out in round two and later rushed to hospital for a precautionary brain scan.

Hatton suffered no lasting damage and is adamant his career is not over.

He said: "I've not quite decided if I'm going to fight again but working with Matthew and other boxers has given me the itch again.

"After New Year I'll sit down and have a serious think about my future."

Reports say he's lining up a fight with Juan Manual Marquez - beaten by both Mayweather and Pacquiao - for a high profile last hurrah.

Ricky said: "I'd love to fight Marquez. For the last few years I've competed with the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters.

"If I am going to come back it would have to be a fight I could really get my teeth into and Marquez is a top rated boxer. It's an obvious match-up for me."

Some fans fear for Hatton who was badly beaten by Pacquiao and whose weight balloons between bouts.

The Hitman's 45 wins with two losses record speaks for itself - so what has he still left to prove?

He said: "I've fought the biggest and the best. I don't want the last fight of my career to be on the flat of my back.

"It's not from a financial point of view or anything else. I just don't want to go out like that.

"I can't even say it's a comeback - it's only seven months since I last fought."

Ricky claims problems during his training camp - where he was prepared by controversial Floyd Mayweather Sr. - cost him dearly.

He said: "My trainerdrilled me into the ground and when fight night came I was a shell of my former self.

"I can't argue with the defeat - or the way I lost - but the camp could definitely have gone better. It's those doubts that make you want to give it another go.

"For years I was labelled as a kid who just wanted to fight in Manchester and avoided this guy and that guy.

"But in the last few years I've fought champions, moved up a weight and faced the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Is that avoiding people? "Even my harshest critics can't accuse me of that."

Hatton reckons the British boxing scene is on a real high and was delighted to see David Haye take the WBA heavyweight title from Nicolai Valuev.

He'll be watching when Amir Khan defends his WBA light welterweight crown against Dimitry Salita next month.

The Hitman also chalked up a career high recently - without throwing a punch. He was visited at his gym by all time hero Muhammad Ali.

He said: "It was a shame to see Ali so poorly and ill but it was an incredible moment for me.

"My gym in Hyde has only been opened a matter of months so to have Ali come to visit was a great thing not just for me but for the area.

"It was such a big deal he even knew who Ricky Hatton was.

"I spoke at Ali's dinner and even with everything I've achieved in the ring it was one of the proudest days of my life."

Source: dailyrecord.co.uk

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Video: Erdei vs Fragomeni

Boxing News World

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Erdei upsets Fragomeni to take world title

AFP

BERLIN — Germany's Zsolt Erdei has won the WBC cruiserweight world title belt with a majority decision to dethrone former champion Giacobbe Fragomeni.

Hungarian-born Erdei was awarded the fight 115-113, 115-113, 114-114 by the three judges after the fight went the full 12 rounds in front of 4,000 fans in Kiel on Saturday night.

The victory leaves Erdei, 35, with an unblemished record of 31 wins and 17 knock-outs.

This was 40-year-old Fragomeni's second defeat of his career having lost to new WBA heavyweight champion David Haye when the pair clashed at cruiserweight in November 2006.

The Italian has 26 wins on his record with 10 knock-outs and one draw.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

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Video: Ward vs Kessler

Boxing News World













Source: YouTube

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Sluggish Marvin Sonsona fit to be tied

TheStar.com

RAMA, Ont.–Minutes after "Marvelous" Marvin Sonsona and Alejandro Hernandez fought to a 12-round draw, and seconds after ring announcer Jake Gutierrez made the result official, the P.A. system at Casino Rama's Auditorium blared a familiar tune – Kool and The Gang's "Celebrate."

But the 10th installment of the Rumble at Rama series didn't give Orion Sports Management much to cheer about.

Promoter Allan Tremblay planned the fight card as a showcase for the top talent under his promotional umbrella – rising star Sonsona, rebounding former champ Steve Molitor and new Filipino find Ciso Morales.

Then all three men struggled.

Sonsona, who gave up his WBO junior bantamweight title in the morning when he couldn't meet the 115-pound weight limit, salvaged his undefeated record with a draw against Lopez.

Meanwhile his compatriot, Morales, slogged through eight tough rounds against Mexico's Miguel Gonzales, winning a decision many fans thought he lost.

Molitor also won, but hit the canvas against Jose Saez before outclassing the Argentine journeyman. Some fans booed as the unanimous decision was announced.

Despite lacklustre performances from his top prospects, Tremblay remains optimistic about world titles in the first quarter of 2010.

Molitor remains the IBF's number two contender and is line to face South Africa's Takalani Ndlovu in March.

"We've done our job in getting him (rated)," Tremblay said. "Opportunities abound."

Tremblay says the same about Sonsona, though the 19-year-old Filipino phenom will have to seek those paydays at 122 pounds.

Sonsona was 117.6 pounds Saturday morning, 2.6 pounds above the junior bantamweight limit. Unable to make weight for a title defence, he was forced to vacate his belt, then forfeit a percentage of his purse.

In the co-main event, Molitor chased Saez early as the Argentine circled the ring, wary of the bigger fighter's power.

In the fifth, Molitor fired a left hand lead between Saez' gloves, sending the 35-year-old staggering backward. A year to the day after losing his IBF junior lightweight title in this same ring, Molitor stalked toward Saez and prepared to finish the fight.

Then Saez dropped him.

A short left hook clipped Molitor's chin and sent him sprawling to the canvas for the first time in three fights since losing the belt.

Molitor recovered from the shot to win a unanimous decision, but he struggled against an opponent handpicked to showcase him, and hardly looked like the champ in waiting his handlers need him to be. Molitor said the knockdown hurt his ego more than his chin.

"For me it's humiliating (because) I had him hurt," said Molitor, now 31-1 (12KO). "It's frustrating. I'm a perfectionist. It really got under my skin."

Source: thestar.com

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Did Manny Pacquiao Beat A Damaged Miguel Cotto?

East Side Boxing

The beating that Cotto endured at the hands of Antonio Margarito made many people believe that Cotto was already damaged goods in boxing. The fact that he KO’ed Michael Jennings in five rounds during his next fight did little to change that perception since Jennings was nowhere near the class of the elite fighters in the welterweight division. This view also gained more momentum when Cotto struggled and nearly lost a split decision to Joshua Clottey in a fight where many people saw Clottey as the winner and in which the difference between winning and losing may have been the knockdown Cotto scored in the first round of the fight..

However, what many people fail to take into consideration was that nobody has ever looked good in a fight against Clottey. Clottey is a big, massive welterweight, with a tight defense, above-average handspeed and power and he always spells trouble for anybody. Also, Cotto was not only contending with Clottey that night. He was also fighting with a very bad cut over his left eye due to an accidental headbutt from the third round onwards. He did show a bit of tentativeness in that fight, but who wouldn’t be when further damage to that cut could lead to the fight being stopped? Who wouldn’t hesitate when he could not see the punches coming from Clottey’s right? What many failed to see is that never for once in the fight was it evident that Cotto wanted to quit or lost the will to win. His big heart willed him to gut it out during the championship rounds and that in my opinion was what won him the fight.

In the fight with Pacquiao, Cotto absorbed more punishment than he received during the Margarito fight. However, in the early moments of Pacquiao-Cotto, we did not see any physical evidence that Cotto was damaged by the Margarito and Clottey fights. In fact, many are of the opinion that for the first four or five rounds of that fight, we have seen the fastest Cotto ever, and Cotto’s performance in those rounds told me a lot why Mayweather has never expressed any interest in fighting Cotto at welterweight: Cotto’s handspeed is underrated and his left hook would probably break Mayweather’s ribs. Cotto was in the best condition of his life in that fight (credit goes to Phil Landman). He was still bouncing lightly on his feet up to the final round inspite of all the punishment he was taking. That Cotto started to backpedal away from Pacquiao from the eight round onwards is just the natural thing for a fighter to do given that he realizes he isn’t hurting Pacquiao and he is in danger of being knocked out. Being very brave is one thing and being very stupid is another, which Cotto certainly is not.

So let’s stop making all these excuses for Miguel Cotto. Cotto was not weight drained at 145, he looked trim and ripped during the weigh-in. His skin tone was not at all that of a weight-drained fighter nor did he look drawn like one. By his own admission, he did nothing for a couple of days before the Clottey fight and he weighed in at 146 for that fight. As Cotto rightfully said, when he fought Pacquiao, he fought the best fighter he ever fought.

It is high time people acknowledge that Pacquiao is simply in a class of his own right now and that was why he was able to do things to Miguel Cotto that no one ever has. Or ever will.

Source: eastsideboxing.com

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Superb Ward takes Kessler's title

BBC Sports

Andre Ward claimed the WBA super-middleweight title with a unanimous technical decision over Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in Oakland, California.

A ringside physician stopped the fight midway through the 11th round after looking at a growing cut on Kessler's face, caused by a head butt.

"I'm dreaming," said Ward, the former Olympic light-heavyweight champion.

"I can't compare this to winning the gold medal, because it's going to take a while for it all to sink in."

Kessler had been installed as favourite prior to the start of the Super Six Classic tournament, which matches six of the world's top super-middleweights.

The 30-year-old Dane had won his past three fights since his only loss to Joe Calzaghe in 2007, briefly relinquishing the WBA title he has held since 2004, and was confident enough to fight in the United States for only the second time in his career.

But Ward, who won Olympic gold at the Athens Games in 2004, turned the fight in the fourth round with an uppercut that rocked the more aggressive Kessler and opened a cut on his face.

The 25-year-old American then took charge, repeatedly landing combinations and keeping much busier than Kessler, opening a cut above the Dane's left eye in the middle rounds.

Kessler struggled against the American's busy style, and Ward began hurting him repeatedly. Two judges scored the bout 98-92 in favour of Ward, with the third awarding it 97-93.

"I felt like it was my time," said Ward. "Everyone said we got the bad draw, but we just beat the toughest guy.

"I was not intimidated by Kessler's record. I was surprised that he didn't change up at all. He kept doing the same thing over and over."

Ward acknowledged there were two head butts which contributed to Kessler's injury, but said they were accidental, insisting: "I'm not a dirty fighter, everybody knows that."

The bout was the third fight in the tournament, which also involves Nottingham's WBC champion Carl Froch.

Froch edged past American Andre Dirrell in his tournament opener last month, while Germany's Arthur Abraham knocked out another American in Jermain Taylor.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

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Rodel Mayol stuns Edgar Sosa, Marvin Sonsona draws in Ontario

Bad Left Hook

Andre Ward's domination of Mikkel Kessler wasn't the only upset of the night in boxing.

Rodel Mayol shocked long-reigning 108-pound titlist Edgar Sosa with a second round knockout in Mexico, winning the WBC junior flyweight title and completing what was really a hell of a year for the Filipino scrapper. Mayol (26-4-1, 20 KO) battled to a draw and a tight technical decision loss this year in two fights with Ivan Calderon, and the upset win over Sosa raises his stock significantly. He fought three fights with what were considered the two best at 108 pounds, and he wound up on top against Sosa.

In Ontario, Marvin Sonsona went to a draw with Alejandro Hernandez in an unimpressive performance. Sonsona lost his 115-pound title on the scales in the morning. The Boxing Bulletin's Andrew Fruman was in attendance at the fight, and also described Sonsona's performance as unimpressive. The same was said about Steve Molitor's eight-round win over Jose Saez.

Both Mikkel Kessler (14) and Edgar Sosa (20) were ranked in our pound-for-pound top 20, so look out for two new additions tomorrow when we update our rankings. And look for some fast rises for Andre Ward and Rodel Mayol in their divisions, too.

Source: badlefthook.com

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Manila throws party for Pacquiao's homecoming

By Hrvoje Hranjski, Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines — The city's notorious traffic came to a halt and thousands lined streets and bridges Friday to cheer their hero Manny Pacquiao, who returned home pondering his next moves -- facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and seeking a congressional seat.
Fresh from stopping welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas on Saturday, Pacquiao stepped from the plane still nursing an injured right ear and said he saw no problem facing Mayweather in the next megafight.

"I am willing to fight Mayweather as long as there's an agreement," the 30-year-old said. "But we don't want to force him to fight me. He should be the one to challenge me because it was clear I had more pay-per-view than him."

Mayweather issued a statement Monday in which he said, "If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself."

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum said Thursday his Filipino star was willing to fight at welterweight (147 pounds, 67 kilograms) and that he was waiting to hear from Golden Boy Promotions chief Richard Schaefer, who has assisted Mayweather's team on his most recent fights.

For the time being, Pacquiao said he just wants a vacation with his family. "I want to relax and my ear injury to heal," he told reporters, saying he will soon fly to his southern home province.

From there, he said he would file his nomination for a congressional seat in next year's elections. It will be Pacquiao's second jab at politics after his 2007 campaign fell short.

His popularity has become overwhelming. He recently made the cover of Time magazine in Asia and is by far the most recognized person in the Philippines.

A former baker and construction worker born to a poor family, Pacquiao became an embodiment of a rags-to-riches story in the country where one-third of the 90 million people live on less than $1 a day.

Standing in a flattop truck and surrounded by his wife and the country's environment secretary, his longtime supporter, Pacquiao waved to the crowds and threw them T-shirts emblazoned with a fist shaped in letters "MP" and draped in colors of the Philippine flag.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will later confer on him a top national medal, the Order of Sikatuna, usually reserved for foreign diplomats and heads of state.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: USA Today

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Why don't trainers stop fights to protect boxers like Miguel Cotto? Dough!

By Mitch Abramson, New York Daily News

In the wake of Manny Pacquiao's one-sided demolition of Miguel Cotto last Saturday, the focus was rightly put on Pacquiao. His performance was remarkable. But I was more interested in the circumstances surrounding Cotto, who took a slow, methodical whipping.

In September, the NFL released a study showing that Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders are more prevalent in former football players than in the general public. The same can be said of boxers; many ex-pugs suffer from dementia pugilistica, a neurological disorder that's brought upon from suffering too many blows to the head.

More than ever, football players rely on their coaches, team doctors and equipment to protect them from traumatic head injury.

In boxing, that responsibility falls on the referees, ringside physicians and trainers. Unfortunately, the person in the best position to protect a boxer from harm - his trainer - is hamstrung by the rules of the sport, which place trainers in subservient positions that compromises their duties to protect their fighter.

"Trainers are amongst the most unprotected groups that we have in all of professional boxing," said Ron Scott Stevens, former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. "The entire situation would be made better if trainers were licensed for the appropriate skills that they possess."

Trainers are paid out of fighters' purse winnings. They are not paid by the promoter. They are not paid by the commission. They are paid solely by the fighter, who they essentially work for.

Trainers also don't have contracts with most state athletic commissions, Stevens said.

If a boxer decides to stiff the trainer on his fee, the fighter has no agreement with the commission to fall back on. Most of the arrangements between boxer and trainer are based on a handshake agreement.

"Sometimes trainers are scared to stop the fight because they're afraid that they might get fired after the fight," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. "If I had been in Cotto's corner, after the eighth round I would have spoken to him and probably given him one more round. But I definitely would have stopped it after the ninth round. I guess his corner was tying to get a moral victory by going the distance."

And Cotto will undoubtedly pay the price. Cotto wasn't saved by the referee, either. Before the 10th round, referee Kenny Bayless said he was told by a ringside physician that Cotto looked as he did when he fought Antonio Margarito. Cotto was stopped in the 11th round of that 2008 match and was a bloody mess.

Source: nydailynews.com

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