By Brian Wilbur, Ringside Report
Manny Pacquiao defeated Antonio Margarito last November in a fight that was billed as Pacquiao attempting to win his eighth world title in as many weight classes. Manny already held the record with seven titles in seven weight classes and was attempting to push his record even farther. The two pugs fought for the vacant WBC light middleweight championship.
Having a claim as a world champion is much easier in today’s boxing scene than it was in the past. One only has to win one of the four alphabet soup belts, the WBC, IBF, WBA, or WBO, in order to boast to be a world champion. One could also win a claim to the historical title lineage or win the Ring Magazine belt to be considered a world champion even without holding an alphabet soup belt.
Manny Pacquiao thrashed Antonio Margarito, winning the WBC’s version of the title at that weight class. Thus, he successfully became the only boxer ever to hold eight titles in eight weight classes. Right? Technically I suppose so using the definition of a modern boxing champion in the previous paragraph. But let’s look at the recent history of that 154-pound WBC title to see how much credibility it has.
On July 25th, 2009, WBC Light Middleweight Champion Vernon Forrest was shot and killed by a group of low-life thugs during an armed robbery. The three men were arrested and are awaiting trial with the death penalty potentially in their future. The world needlessly and tragically lost a terrific boxer and an even better human being that day.
Vernon’s belt obviously became vacant and the WBC had the task of crowning a new champion. The most obvious candidate to fight for the title was the WBC’s interim champion at that weight class, Sergio Martinez. Martinez turned down the opportunity, instead opting to fight Paul Williams at middleweight for big money on HBO.
One would think that the next move for the WBC would have been to arrange a bout for the vacant title among some the boxers whom they rated highly within that division. At the time their top three were Alfredo Angulo, Ricardo Mayorga, and Julio Cesar Chavez JR., in that order.
No such bout ever occurred.
Instead, the WBC sanctioned a match between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito for their vacant 154-pound belt. Pacquiao had never fought at junior middleweight prior to that match. Margarito had fought once in the last five years at junior middleweight in a meaningless tune up fight.
Margarito’s story about getting suspended for trying to use loaded hand wraps against Shane Mosley is well documented. Inexplicably, the WBC instantly made Margarito the number one contender when he returned from his exile despite being a proven cheater, despite having done nothing of merit in his new weight class, and despite coming off of a one-sided knockout loss. WBC president Jose Sulaiman essentially commended Margarito for cheating through his actions and various public statements defending the Mexican boxer.
Margarito was, and still is, a disgrace to boxing with no right to fight for any title until he proves that he can fight without loaded hand wraps, especially not at junior middleweight. Margarito had very little experience or success at that higher weight, having found his championship success at welterweight.
How, or why, would these two be sanctioned to fight for the vacant WBC light middleweight title? I possibly see why Pacquiao would get a pass directly to the title shot at junior middleweight considering that he was a pound for pound champion and a reigning world champion one weight class down, but only if he was fighting an established champion at 154 pounds. That was not the case. Manny was fighting for the vacant title against someone (Margarito) who was also new to the weight class and had no business being ranked inside the top 10.
The sanctioning of Pacquiao and Margarito by the WBC stunk. The WBC obviously wanted to get a cut of Pacquiao’s massive purse in the form of a sanctioning fee and bent over backwards to make sure that their title was at stake.
After Pacquiao won he vacated his new belt because his appearance at junior middleweight was only intended to be a cameo and he had no intention of sticking around to defend the belt. What is happening to the belt now is further discrediting the WBC belt and tarnishing Pacquiao’s claim as an eight-division champion.
A young Mexican slugger named Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won the WBC silver junior middleweight championship last July. For those who don’t know, the WBC silver titles are in place of the old “interim” label. So, in the WBC there are no more interim champions but there are plenty of title claimants to the silver belts. Alvarez, despite being a largely unproven, green prospect was first in line for a shot at the real belt based on the fact that he held that division’s “silver” belt.
That part is fine even if I don’t agree with Alvarez being rated as the #1 contender at junior middleweight, at least the WBC is consistent with their own rules up to this point.
What blows my mind is that the WBC is allowing Saul Alvarez to fight Matthew Hatton for vacant WBC junior middleweight belt. Hatton is best known for being Ricky Hatton’s younger brother but has found moderate success in the European circuit’s welterweight division. Hatton has had no significant fights at 154 pounds and has never beaten anyone that the media would consider at top 15-ranked contender in any weight class or at any point in his career.
Matthew Hatton bypassed a long list of WBC junior middleweight contenders ready and willing to fight Alvarez for the vacant belt, including Ryan Rhodes, Alfredo Angulo, Sergio Mora, and Kermit Cintron among the notables. Hatton is not ranked in the WBC 154 rankings, though he is, perplexingly, ranked #5 in their welterweight rankings.
A vacant title should be awarded only when the clear #1 and clear #2 ranked contenders fight. The WBC is hand picking undeserving boxers from any nearby weight class for no logical reason.
In the first case (Margarito vs. Pacquiao) you had two name opponents who were foreign to the weight class, one of whom was coming off a loss and suspicion for cheating. The next case (Alvarez vs. Hatton) you have two guys who would not be on most people’s top ten list fighting for the vacant title.
This belt, the WBC junior middleweight championship, is completely meaningless based on their recent actions and their vast history of poor decision making. How can boxing historians put any weight on the belt of an organization that runs business is this manner? They are giving titles away willy nilly, sanctioning any bout if the money is right. Pacquiao’s accomplishment of eight titles in eight weight classes is in serious question.
If the WBC sanctioned a fight between Pacquiao and Eric Crumble (look him up on boxrec) for the 168-pound title would we consider that nine titles in nine weight classes for Pacman? Absolutely not, and nor should we accept his claim to eight titles either, until he fights and beats a legitimate champion at 154 pounds.
Source: ringsidereport.com
Friday 4 March 2011
Alvarez vs. Hatton for 154-pound title -- ESPN
By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
The last time Mexican sensation Saul "Canelo" Alvarez fought in the United States was in September, when he scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of former welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir in the sixth round.
Alvarez, 20, returned to Mexico, where he is one of the nation's most famous athletes, and easily outpointed former junior welterweight titlist Lovemore N'Dou in December to sew up honors as the 2010 ESPN.com prospect of the year.
Now Alvarez is back in America and set for his first starring role in a HBO main event. He will meet England's Matthew Hatton on Saturday night (10:30 ET/PT) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The fight was made in January, but only last week was it sanctioned for the junior middleweight world title recently vacated by Manny Pacquiao because he had no plans to defend it.
If Alvarez wins, he will become the youngest fighter to ever win a 154-pound world title, breaking the record Fernando Vargas set in 1998, when he stopped Luis Ramon "Yory Boy" Campas just a few days past his 21st birthday.
Alvarez and Hatton took the match without knowing it would be for a belt. When they found out during a teleconference with reporters to discuss the fight, they were ecstatic.
"Wow, that's great news," Alvarez said through translator Eric Gomez, one of Golden Boy's matchmakers. "I wasn't expecting it. I'm very happy. I'm very motivated now. This is going to be my first world title. I want to take advantage of it. I'll be ready, but this is more motivation for me."
Said Hatton, "Obviously, every kid who first laces on the boxing gloves, their ambition is to become a world champion, so that news is absolutely fantastic to me. I was so motivated for this fight anyway, getting the chance to perform again in the United States against a highly touted fighter in Saul Alvarez. I think he's the level I'm at now. I'm definitely a world class fighter. I've been dominating at European level, so a world title is what I was looking at. So, that is absolutely fantastic news."
In the televised opener, 21-year-old junior lightweight prospect Adrien "The Problem" Broner (19-0, 16 KOs) of Cincinnati will take a major step up in competition when he faces Mexican knockout artist Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-2, 34 KOs), 30, a former junior featherweight titlist and featherweight contender who is moving up in weight for the scheduled 10-rounder.
"Broner is a big, strong fighter with an exciting style," De Leon said. "But I'm ready for the challenge and I know he's never been in with a fighter as strong and experienced as I am."
Said Broner, "De Leon is a great fighter, a former world champion, and I respect him for stepping up for this fight. Unfortunately for him, I'm going to have to show him what it's like to be in the ring with a talent like myself."
Beyond the question of can Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KOs) win a title at such a young age is the question of can he score another spectacular knockout against Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KOs), the European welterweight champion and the 29-year-old younger brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton?
Alvarez is not in the habit of making predictions, however.
"I don't like to predict knockouts," he said. "I don't look for the knockouts. They come naturally. It's going to be a tough fight. I'm going to be ready to box 12 rounds."
For Hatton, the fight is not only a chance to win a title, but a chance to further escape the long shadow cast by his big brother, who was one of boxing's biggest global stars before going into an unofficial retirement after Pacquiao knocked him cold in the second round to take the junior welterweight championship in 2009.
"I've boxed in America quite a few times before. So, I'm very fortunate to have gathered that experience, but yes, to be top of the bill in me own right in such a big fight is something that I've always been looking forward to," said Hatton, who regularly boxed on Ricky's undercards but came into his own in 2010 when he won the European title and made two defenses. "I always had confidence in my ability where these opportunities would come my way, but yes, being top of the bill in me own right now, I'm looking forward to it. I'm very excited about it. I think it's going to be a great fight. It's a fight I'm going into full of confidence, can't wait for it, but yes, I am enjoying my moment in the spotlight, so to speak.
"I think it is overdue because I think it has taken me a while to produce my best form, but I really am in the best form in my career so far. I think this fight is coming at the right time for me, and being lucky enough to have boxed on these fantastic bills before stands me in good stead for this fight, I believe."
Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who promoted Ricky for the final four fights of his career, saw Matthew fight on those undercards and believes he is ready to come into his own.
"It's very impressive how Matthew has been able to progress in his career," De La Hoya said. "Every single fight, he's learning, he's growing. He's learning that the game of boxing is not all about brute strength. He's thinking. It's very impressive, especially to have an older brother like Ricky who has been in the limelight for so many years. For Matthew to break out of that shadow is also very impressive because it can be very difficult when you have an older brother who is in the limelight and who is the main event all the time.
"It shows you the character. It shows you the discipline and the patience that Matthew has had. He knows this is his moment, this is his time. I'm sure he's going to perform at his best."
Hatton is coming to Alvarez's territory. He will be the huge crowd favorite among a heavily Mexican crowd. Hatton said that means nothing to him.
"That's not something that I will lose any sleep over, to be honest," he said. "I'm an experienced fighter. To have good support is always nice. When I box home in England, they always give fantastic support. That's always nice, but at the end of the day, when that bell rings, when you're in the ring and everyone else gets out of the ring ... it's just the two fighters left in there. So, even though it's nice to have good support, those supporters can't get in the ring and help him on the night."
Alvarez is the clear favorite and if he wins big things are expected to follow. Some have suggested an eventual fight with Pacquiao, although that is unlikely given the feud between Golden Boy and Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank. Still, it does show the kind of expectations some have for Alvarez.
"We can't get too ahead of ourselves," De La Hoya said. "He's got a tough fight coming up with Matthew. You can't plan too far ahead. He's a good fighter. He's a very, very good prospect. He's fighting for his first world title now. We're going to take it by steps. We'll see what happens and how he progresses, but we can't plan too far ahead because Matthew is going to be a very tough fighter. He's got a lot of experience. He's going to come to fight. He's just a hungry as Saul to win that world title."
Alvarez, however, feels he is prepared for possible challenges after Hatton.
"I'm ready," he said. "This is a tough fight. I do think I'm going to win this fight, but it's going to be a tough fight. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but yes, I've always said that all along, that I'm ready for the big names."
Source: sports.espn.go.com
The last time Mexican sensation Saul "Canelo" Alvarez fought in the United States was in September, when he scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of former welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir in the sixth round.
Alvarez, 20, returned to Mexico, where he is one of the nation's most famous athletes, and easily outpointed former junior welterweight titlist Lovemore N'Dou in December to sew up honors as the 2010 ESPN.com prospect of the year.
Now Alvarez is back in America and set for his first starring role in a HBO main event. He will meet England's Matthew Hatton on Saturday night (10:30 ET/PT) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The fight was made in January, but only last week was it sanctioned for the junior middleweight world title recently vacated by Manny Pacquiao because he had no plans to defend it.
If Alvarez wins, he will become the youngest fighter to ever win a 154-pound world title, breaking the record Fernando Vargas set in 1998, when he stopped Luis Ramon "Yory Boy" Campas just a few days past his 21st birthday.
Alvarez and Hatton took the match without knowing it would be for a belt. When they found out during a teleconference with reporters to discuss the fight, they were ecstatic.
"Wow, that's great news," Alvarez said through translator Eric Gomez, one of Golden Boy's matchmakers. "I wasn't expecting it. I'm very happy. I'm very motivated now. This is going to be my first world title. I want to take advantage of it. I'll be ready, but this is more motivation for me."
Said Hatton, "Obviously, every kid who first laces on the boxing gloves, their ambition is to become a world champion, so that news is absolutely fantastic to me. I was so motivated for this fight anyway, getting the chance to perform again in the United States against a highly touted fighter in Saul Alvarez. I think he's the level I'm at now. I'm definitely a world class fighter. I've been dominating at European level, so a world title is what I was looking at. So, that is absolutely fantastic news."
In the televised opener, 21-year-old junior lightweight prospect Adrien "The Problem" Broner (19-0, 16 KOs) of Cincinnati will take a major step up in competition when he faces Mexican knockout artist Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-2, 34 KOs), 30, a former junior featherweight titlist and featherweight contender who is moving up in weight for the scheduled 10-rounder.
"Broner is a big, strong fighter with an exciting style," De Leon said. "But I'm ready for the challenge and I know he's never been in with a fighter as strong and experienced as I am."
Said Broner, "De Leon is a great fighter, a former world champion, and I respect him for stepping up for this fight. Unfortunately for him, I'm going to have to show him what it's like to be in the ring with a talent like myself."
Beyond the question of can Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KOs) win a title at such a young age is the question of can he score another spectacular knockout against Hatton (41-4-2, 16 KOs), the European welterweight champion and the 29-year-old younger brother of former junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton?
Alvarez is not in the habit of making predictions, however.
"I don't like to predict knockouts," he said. "I don't look for the knockouts. They come naturally. It's going to be a tough fight. I'm going to be ready to box 12 rounds."
For Hatton, the fight is not only a chance to win a title, but a chance to further escape the long shadow cast by his big brother, who was one of boxing's biggest global stars before going into an unofficial retirement after Pacquiao knocked him cold in the second round to take the junior welterweight championship in 2009.
"I've boxed in America quite a few times before. So, I'm very fortunate to have gathered that experience, but yes, to be top of the bill in me own right in such a big fight is something that I've always been looking forward to," said Hatton, who regularly boxed on Ricky's undercards but came into his own in 2010 when he won the European title and made two defenses. "I always had confidence in my ability where these opportunities would come my way, but yes, being top of the bill in me own right now, I'm looking forward to it. I'm very excited about it. I think it's going to be a great fight. It's a fight I'm going into full of confidence, can't wait for it, but yes, I am enjoying my moment in the spotlight, so to speak.
"I think it is overdue because I think it has taken me a while to produce my best form, but I really am in the best form in my career so far. I think this fight is coming at the right time for me, and being lucky enough to have boxed on these fantastic bills before stands me in good stead for this fight, I believe."
Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who promoted Ricky for the final four fights of his career, saw Matthew fight on those undercards and believes he is ready to come into his own.
"It's very impressive how Matthew has been able to progress in his career," De La Hoya said. "Every single fight, he's learning, he's growing. He's learning that the game of boxing is not all about brute strength. He's thinking. It's very impressive, especially to have an older brother like Ricky who has been in the limelight for so many years. For Matthew to break out of that shadow is also very impressive because it can be very difficult when you have an older brother who is in the limelight and who is the main event all the time.
"It shows you the character. It shows you the discipline and the patience that Matthew has had. He knows this is his moment, this is his time. I'm sure he's going to perform at his best."
Hatton is coming to Alvarez's territory. He will be the huge crowd favorite among a heavily Mexican crowd. Hatton said that means nothing to him.
"That's not something that I will lose any sleep over, to be honest," he said. "I'm an experienced fighter. To have good support is always nice. When I box home in England, they always give fantastic support. That's always nice, but at the end of the day, when that bell rings, when you're in the ring and everyone else gets out of the ring ... it's just the two fighters left in there. So, even though it's nice to have good support, those supporters can't get in the ring and help him on the night."
Alvarez is the clear favorite and if he wins big things are expected to follow. Some have suggested an eventual fight with Pacquiao, although that is unlikely given the feud between Golden Boy and Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank. Still, it does show the kind of expectations some have for Alvarez.
"We can't get too ahead of ourselves," De La Hoya said. "He's got a tough fight coming up with Matthew. You can't plan too far ahead. He's a good fighter. He's a very, very good prospect. He's fighting for his first world title now. We're going to take it by steps. We'll see what happens and how he progresses, but we can't plan too far ahead because Matthew is going to be a very tough fighter. He's got a lot of experience. He's going to come to fight. He's just a hungry as Saul to win that world title."
Alvarez, however, feels he is prepared for possible challenges after Hatton.
"I'm ready," he said. "This is a tough fight. I do think I'm going to win this fight, but it's going to be a tough fight. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but yes, I've always said that all along, that I'm ready for the big names."
Source: sports.espn.go.com
De La Hoya to visit troops, as Marquez clamors for Pacquiao fight -- Examiner
By Paula Duffy, Examiner.com
Oscar De La Hoya is a busy guy. In addition to keeping up with his responsibilites at Golden Boy Promotions, he has committed to taking a trip to visit U.S. troops fighting this country's wars in the Middle East.
It's a week-long sojourn during which he will be accompanied by GB fighters Adrien Broner, Danny Jacobs and Seth Mitchell. A USO spokesman said, “It’s a mission to boost troop morale. The group will participate in boxing clinics, share techniques and extend their thanks to America’s troops serving in the Middle East.”
For his part, Oscar tweeted "Just announced today I’m headed over to the middle east with a few golden boy fighters to be with the troops. I’ll be down in the middle east for about a week training with them, signing autographs, I can’t wait maybe even spar with some.”
The former Olympic games gold medal winner and 10 time-champion can't reveal when the group will be on the ground nor the exact locations they will visit. National security concerns, right? For Oscar? Who'd want to target him of all people?
How about Juan Manuel Marquez who is itching to fight Manny Pacquiao and hasn't been successful at getting to that point, in part due to the difficulties between Golden Boy, his promoter and Pacquiao's team at Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions.
Marquez watched as Sugar Shane Mosley disentangled his boxing affairs from Golden Boy and just like that, he was set up to meet the Pinoy idol in a welterweight championship bout scheduled for May 7 in Las Vegas. Mosley figured out a way to get it done and now Marquez is struggling with that as well.
The Los Angeles TImes rated Marquez as the biggest name in the GB stable, with Mosely's departure, although Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's people might dispute that. Of course it remains to be seen if Canelo acquits himself well in Saturday's bout in Anaheim against Matthew Hatton that will fill the vacant WBC super welterweight title, vacated by Mr. Pacquiao.
The folks at Golden Boy have less than thirty days left to work out a new contract with Marquez after his contract expired in February and it seems that part of that has to entail satisfying his thirst for his last huge payday. At age 37, the window is still slightly open for that if he can manage to get the attention of Arum's people or if GB somehow convinces Marquez that they will make the deal.
Oscar was even willing to personally fly to Mexico to keep Marquez in the fold, but with all his other resonsibilites, including those to the USO, well that didn't happen. We wish De La Hoya a good trip and hope he doesn't have horrible news on the Marquez front when he return.
Source: examiner.com
Oscar De La Hoya is a busy guy. In addition to keeping up with his responsibilites at Golden Boy Promotions, he has committed to taking a trip to visit U.S. troops fighting this country's wars in the Middle East.
It's a week-long sojourn during which he will be accompanied by GB fighters Adrien Broner, Danny Jacobs and Seth Mitchell. A USO spokesman said, “It’s a mission to boost troop morale. The group will participate in boxing clinics, share techniques and extend their thanks to America’s troops serving in the Middle East.”For his part, Oscar tweeted "Just announced today I’m headed over to the middle east with a few golden boy fighters to be with the troops. I’ll be down in the middle east for about a week training with them, signing autographs, I can’t wait maybe even spar with some.”
The former Olympic games gold medal winner and 10 time-champion can't reveal when the group will be on the ground nor the exact locations they will visit. National security concerns, right? For Oscar? Who'd want to target him of all people?
How about Juan Manuel Marquez who is itching to fight Manny Pacquiao and hasn't been successful at getting to that point, in part due to the difficulties between Golden Boy, his promoter and Pacquiao's team at Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions.
Marquez watched as Sugar Shane Mosley disentangled his boxing affairs from Golden Boy and just like that, he was set up to meet the Pinoy idol in a welterweight championship bout scheduled for May 7 in Las Vegas. Mosley figured out a way to get it done and now Marquez is struggling with that as well.
The Los Angeles TImes rated Marquez as the biggest name in the GB stable, with Mosely's departure, although Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's people might dispute that. Of course it remains to be seen if Canelo acquits himself well in Saturday's bout in Anaheim against Matthew Hatton that will fill the vacant WBC super welterweight title, vacated by Mr. Pacquiao.
The folks at Golden Boy have less than thirty days left to work out a new contract with Marquez after his contract expired in February and it seems that part of that has to entail satisfying his thirst for his last huge payday. At age 37, the window is still slightly open for that if he can manage to get the attention of Arum's people or if GB somehow convinces Marquez that they will make the deal.
Oscar was even willing to personally fly to Mexico to keep Marquez in the fold, but with all his other resonsibilites, including those to the USO, well that didn't happen. We wish De La Hoya a good trip and hope he doesn't have horrible news on the Marquez front when he return.
Source: examiner.com
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