Nonito Donaire Seeks Fernando Montiel, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

WBA interim super flyweight (115 pounds) champion Nonito Donaire, who scored two knockdowns on the way to Saturday's eighth-round knockout of challenger Hernan "Tyson" Marquez, will seek a potential November bout with WBO bantamweight (118 pounds) titlist, Fernando Montiel, followed by one opposite WBO super bantamweight (122 pounds) king, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., his promoter, Bob Arum, said.

Against Marquez, Donaire scored his 24th victory against one loss, and his 16th knockout in Saturday night's Showtime-televised bout at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"We're hoping and we believe that, thanks to Showtime, Nonito's next fight will be for the bantamweight title against the legendary champion Montiel, and we'll be putting that together in the next couple of weeks," said Arum during a post-fight press conference.

"You could see his great skills that he has, and what a tremendous boxer and fighter that he is," said Arum. "Hopefully, if he gets beyond Montiel, then his next goal is to fight Vazquez, the Puerto Rican 122-pound champion. And so, there's a lot of big fights for him in the months and the years ahead."

Nicknamed "The Filipino Flash," the 27-year-old Donaire improved his winning streak to 23 fights with knockouts against eight of his last 10 opponents.

Having had trouble maintaining the 115-pound weight limit, Donaire had vowed that Marquez would be his final bout in that division.

"Nonito has one weakness, and that's that he likes to eat," said Arum. "He's been starving himself fighting at 115. So at least he'll be able to eat a little bit more while he gets ready for his fights."

Donaire would next like a shot at the 31-year-old Montiel (41-2-2, 31 KOs), who has a July 17 clash with Rafael Concepcion (14-4-1, 8 KOs) in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico.

Montiel is coming off of April's fourth-round knockout over Hozumi Hasegawa, this after having scored February's first-round knockout over Ciso Morales.

The 26-year-old Vazquez, of Bayon, Puerto Rico, is nicknamed, "WV 2." The son of the former world champion by the same name, Vazquez Jr. (19-0-1, 16 KOs) has won four straight fights by knockout, and is riding a 10-fight winning streak that includes eight stoppages.

Vazquez is coming off of a May, 29, 10th-round knockout of previously undefeated Zsolt "Mr. Left hook" Bedak (15-1, five KOs), of Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday night at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, P.R.

In February, Vazquez earned the WBO crown by scoring a fourth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Marvin Sonsona (14-1-1, 12 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, who was being called "The Next Manny Pacquiao."

"Bob, you just made my day when you said Montiel and maybe Vazquez. You know, this is the dream that I've been wanting," said Donaire.

"Everybody in my facebook and my Twitter has been saying, 'when are you going to fight the best out there?' and, 'when are you going to fight guys who are elite?' Thank you for giving me that and opening that door for me."

Donaire said that he fought the first four rounds against Marquez as a southpaw due to an injury to his left leg.

"Like I had mentioned before, I had this injury in my left leg that made me turn and fight as a southpaw. [Trainer] Roberto Garcia and my team decided to turn me southpaw. So this is the first time that I've fought southpaw. I mean, I've always fought as a right-hander," said Donaire.

"This was an experimental fight. I tried to figure him out, but the things that we worked were difficult to use on him because he was very short," said Donaire. "So every time that we tried to duck down, he was right in front of me. It was an experience. And when I said, 'enough is enough,' I turned right-handed and I took him out."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Eastside interviews Paul Briggs

By Tony Nobbs, Eastside Boxing

A surprise announcement was made earlier this year when two time WBC 175 pound title challenger Paul Briggs announced he was returning to the ring – with a shot at friend Danny Green the goal.

Since retiring after a February 2007 decision win over South African journeyman Rupert Van Aswegan, which followed a second majority points defeat to Thomas Adamek in 2006, Briggs has spent his time commentating and training fighters, being one of the house trainers on the Contender Australia series.

To those who watched Briggs (who ended with a 26-3, 18 ko’s record) punched his way through the light heavyweight rankings under the mentorship of Rod Waterhouse, watching the Gold Coaster leave boxing without a world championship belt strapped around his waist was wrong.

ESB caught up with the 34 year old father of two and here’s what he had to say.

Eastside: Paul, firstly, the question everyone is asking. Why come back?

Paul Briggs: I’m a third generation fighter. It’s in my blood. Before fighting Adamek I hadn’t lost in a long time and it was hard to cop. You know, for both those fights I was with new trainers (Jack Mosley and Johnny Lewis) and it was different, trying to adjust to the changes they were trying to make to my style. I wasn’t the same (fighter) but did my best. It really gutted me going out like I did. My son Isiah gave me the okay to fight again. He actually asked me to retire before, so I asked him this time. If he said no I wouldn’t be back.

ESB: Who will you be training under?

PB: Billy Hussein. We have worked together before. He knows what I need to do. I will go to Sydney and he will come up to the Gold Coast for different periods of our training. I have my old pad man Richard Walsh back. Rod (Waterhouse) always encouraged me to be creative, he let me flow with what came to me naturally and I’m getting back to being the creative fighter I had to be coming up, when I was really enjoying boxing. The good thing is I don’t have any expectations. There’s no pressure on me. Right now, I’m just enjoying getting up each day and working as hard as I can.

ESB: Danny Green is the target. If and when a fight between you two happens what can fans expect?

PB: At the very worst an amazing fight. We have sparred together alot, we know each other, I think that with the passion and intensity we both bring it will be a Gatti-Ward type fight for Australia. I think I will be his toughest opponent. I proved my toughness in the Adamek fights. I don’t take too much into him knocking out Roy Jones, because he (Jones) was old. Danny won one of his world titles by beating a guy I’d already beat (Stipe Drews). He won every round but he never dropped the guy. I put him down three times.

ESB: You beat four guys in the top ten before getting a shot at the title. Who do you rate your best win?

PB: Actually, I’d go with Tosca Petridis (in 2000). He was a tough warrior, I knocked him out in a round, in his weight division (cruiserweight). That was the fight that really put other fighters on notice.

ESB: How did you enjoy being involved in The Contender?

PB: I love being in a camp environment and being around those guys watching them work, it reignited my desire to fight. Being in an environment like that for almost three months, where it was boxing, boxing, boxing, day in day out, I thought why not get in there and give it another crack.

ESB: You’ve done a lot of commentary work. How enjoying is that?

PB: I love commentating and look forward to continuing. I believe I have a broad knowledge of boxing and I like to share that with the audience and encourage some of the fighters coming up.

ESB: You have also trained some fighters. How’s that been?

PB: Again, I’ve been able to share what I have learnt from twenty years in fighting (Kick boxing and boxing). Also, I think when you teach, you learn and I’ve picked up a lot of stuff by working with younger guys.

ESB: Finally, Adamek has really kicked since you fought. Has his success inspired you?

PB: You know, we had two great fights. I went over and fought him in his own back yard. Both fights were close, I thought the first was very close and I could have got it. I had him badly hurt. In the second fight I had him down. What he has done since shows what a talent he is and is testament to my ability. Yes, it’s inspired me but there are alot of other things as well.

*Please note this interview was done in March, before the fight was officialy announced.

Promoter: Manny Pacquiao-Paul Williams Should 'Be Made' -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Upon hearing Friday's Nevada State Athletic Commission ruling that ex-world champion Antonio Margarito must re-apply for his boxing license in California, promoter Dan Goossen, who handles Paul Williams, called out WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao.

"Well, you heard that Nevada denied Antonio Margarito his license," said Goossen. "So now, the table has been set for Paul Williams to fight Manny Pacquiao."

Goossen believes that Williams (39-1, 27 KOs), a former three-time champion, would be a viable candidate to face Pacquiao in a mega-bout at 17 pounds. A tall, rangy southpaw, Williams has fought at welterweight, junior middleweight (154 pounds) and middleweight (160 pounds).

But Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz and his Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum have indicated that the seven-division titlist still would consider fighting newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champ Miguel Cotto or Margarito in a clash outside of the United States if a mega-bout can't be made with undefeated welterweight (147 pounds) rival Floyd Mayweather.

The 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 39 knockouts) has agreed in principle to the demands of Mayweather's handlers and Golden Boy Promotions to put his WBO belt on the line against Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), having given his unbeaten counterpart until mid-July -- or next weekend -- to sign the contract, Koncz said.

If agreed upon, Mayweather-Pacquiao would likely take place in Las Vegas on the proposed date of Nov. 13, 2010.

In the meantime, Koncz has begun to consider a rematch with Puerto Rico's Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) -- whom Pacquiao dethroned as WBO welterweight champ by 12th-round knockout in November -- or a match-up opposite Mexico's Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs).

Margarito, however, still is not legal to fight in America, this after his boxing license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission following an illegal hand-wrapping scandal in January 2009.

Margarito is coming off of May's 10-round unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia in a junior middleweight clash that was fought in Mexico, which licensed him for the bout.

The Nevada commission ruled that it won't license Margarito until he first attempts to become validated by the CSAC, which effectively continues his ring exile in most American jurisdictions other than those such as Texas.

"Who else is out there, Miguel Cotto? I'm sure. I mean, Cotto is one fight removed from the one-sided fight that he had with Manny Pacquiao. Eventually, that fight was stopped. Boxing more than ever needs the best to fight the best," said Goossen.

"Let's put it this way, if Bob [Arum] even thought about fighting Pacquiao and Margarito in Mexico, I would think would forever darken Margarito's career and cause Manny Pacquiao problems having to go to fight an unlicensed U.S. fighter -- a fighter who can't get a license in the United States. I think that it goes beyond public relations."

At 160 pounds, Williams has vanquished southpaw Argentinian Sergio Martinez, this, before Martinez scored a unanimous decision that dethroned then WBC and WBO middleweight king, Kelly Pavlik.

In April of 2009, Williams also scored a one-sided decision over former junior middleweight world champion, Winky Wright, this, while they were fighting as middleweights.

HBO President of Sports, Ross Greenburg, is pushing for a Williams-Martinez rematch to go on Oct. 2.

"Listen, Paul is almost 6-foot-3. So I realize that the size difference poses a different threat to Manny Pacquiao. But so did the weight difference that Paul had to endure at 154 and 160 pounds. So, there's no one better, other than Floyd Mayweather, to fight Manny Pacquiao right now than Paul Williams," said Goossen.

"Now you can sit there and do your marketing and P.R. penciling in that Cotto does this and that. Bottom line, he's one fight removed from getting his clock cleaned by Manny Pacquiao," said Goossen. "So, there's only one fight other than Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to be made -- and that's Manny Pacquiao and Paul Williams -- and Paul is ready to go."

In July, 2007, at a time when he was considered the most feared welterweight, Margarito fought Williams, whose welterweight unanimous decision dethroned then-WBO welterweight king, Margarito.

Margarito had already knocked out Martinez in their welterweight match up in February of 2000, and, also also owns an 11th-round stoppage win over Cotto.

Pacquiao, Margarito and Cotto are all promoted by Arum and Top Rank.

"I understand Bob's hesitancy to fight anyone who is not under his own promotional roof, and that he is concerned about Paul Williams because of how mean and how good he is. But we mean for Paul to be in his natural weight division of 147 pounds, and to show supremacy in that division," said Goossen.

"Paul has taken on every challenge that there has been out there," said Goossen. "He's done it at a level where he's given opponents advantages by going up in weights that were not his natural weights. Are you going to tell me that Pacquiao doesn't have that same fighter mentality that Paul has shown?"

Williams' most recent win was May's four-round, junior middleweight class technical decision over former two-time welterweight world titlist, Kermit Cintron, who has battled to a draw with Martinez, and, vanquished present WBO interim junior middleweight king, Alfredo Angulo.

Other big wins for Williams include knockouts of former world champs Sharmba Mitchell, and, Verno Phillips.

The one over Mitchell was in the fourth round in Aug. of 2006 while campaigning as a welterweight.

In November, 2008, Williams scored the eighth-round knockout Phillips for the WBO junior middleweight belt. Phillips was coming off of a victory that dethroned Cory Spinks as IBF junior middleweight champ.

Although Williams suffered his lone defeat against southpaw, Carlos Quintana, in February, 2008, Williams regained his WBO championship, four months later, by stopping Quintana with 15 seconds left in the first round.

"Paul has done it at 154 pounds, he's done it at 160. He did it in the 147 pound division prior to nobody wanting to fight him. But I believe that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are different animals," said Goossen.

"I mean, these fighters have the mentality of taking on anyone that poses a threat inside of the ring and a public one to their reputation," said Goossen. "Because the fans want to know who is the best one is, it's time for our sport and for its managers to learn to satisfy the appetite of our fans."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com