Knockout Nation: Khan Breaks Down Malignaggi, Ortiz Outboxes Campbell, Hopkins Wants Calzaghe and Bute, Mayweather-Pacquiao Update -- AllHipHop

By Ismael AbduSalaam, AllHipHop.com

Malignaggi Has No Answers for Khan

Before his hometown NYC crowd last night (May 15), Paulie Malignaggi (27-4, 5 KOs) was thoroughly beaten by a well prepared Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KOs), who took out his Brooklyn foe with a dominant 11th round TKO.

From the outset, Malignaggi had no answers for Khan’s superior speed and power. Amir was able to consistently get off first with his stiff jab, and even at times with lead left hooks and straight rights.

By the 4th round, Khan was also making Malignaggi pay for trying to come inside, clipping him with a head-turning right uppercut. In the following round, Paulie’s offense was hampered further by Khan’s longer reach, and the Brooklynite was punished with multiple flush right and left hooks to the face.

The 8th and 9th rounds were complete whitewashes for Amir Khan. In the former round, the UK fighter began attacking more with impunity, as the light-hitting Malignaggi (5 KOs in his career) could do nothing to keep his opponent off him. Khan could not miss Malignaggi’s head with any of his shots, finding a home for the jab, left uppercut, and hooks with both hands. In the latter stanza, Paulie continued to get busted up with stiff left jabs and hooks, and the Magic Man’s face was swollen all over with a mouse under the left eye.

Following another brutal 10th round, referee Steve Smoger asked Malignaggi if he wanted to come out for another round. Despite Paulie’s affirmations, Smoger refused to let the bout continue until the ringside physician had a thorough review. Once completed, Malignaggi was advised he had one more round to make a stand.

With no power to turn the tide, Paulie Malignaggi absorbed more hooks as he tried to land a desperate home run shot. A Khan left hook caused him to careen into the ropes, and Smoger stopped the bout as Malignaggi feebly threw weak punches in retaliation.

The 11th round TKO made Amir Khan’s U.S. debut a successful coming out party, and now Golden Boy’s most promising young star turned his attention to his remaining division rivals.

“A lot of people put the pressure on me to fight Maidana. I’ll fight Maidana next,” Khan told HBO’s Max Kellerman. “Let Bradley fight Alexander, and the winner of that fight face me in the finals…let’s do it! I will not leave 140 until I’ve unified the titles.”

In spite of all his prefight trash talk, Paulie Malignaggi made no excuses for his loss and gave Khan full credit.

“Amir just fought a really good fight. [He gave] lots of angles, kept changing distance, that was the plan for me [but] Amir was quicker,” Malignaggi admitted. “Amir’s younger, he had that youthful enthusiasm and I give him a lot of credit.”

On the undercard, Victor Ortiz kept his poise for 10 rounds and was able to easily outbox a now slower and fading Nate Campbell.

At 38 years old, Campbell was unable to chase down Ortiz, who circled for the majority of the bout and countered Campbell with hard straight lefts and flurries. Scorecards for the bout read 100-89 twice, and 99-90.

HBO did much to sell the junior welterweight division, doing a video package focusing on its talented young guns Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, and Marcos Maidana. In addition, the network covered the division’s other top fighters in Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, Ricky Hatton, and Andriy Kotelnik. From commentator Max Kellerman’s own mouth, HBO looks to be putting their hopes on this division to carry their boxing coverage before and following Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Bernard Hopkins Looking for Another Match

Following the abysmal April PPV encounter that was Hopkins-Jones, there was no one clamoring to see Bernard Hopkins in the ring ever again. Even Golden Boy CEO Richard Shaefer told the press he’d like to see the Executioner hang it up. But Hopkins is ignoring these retirement suggestions, and is reportedly seeking bouts with Lucian Bute or Joe Calzaghe.

Last month, Bute destroyed Edison Miranda with a 3rd round TKO. Many consider Bute the top super-middleweight in the world despite the ongoing Super Six tournament. Joe Calzaghe beat Bernard Hopkins via controversial split decision in 2008. Calzaghe announced his retirement that year after beating Roy Jones and hasn’t fought since.

Hopkins was in attendance last night but did not disclose whether serious talks have begun for either proposed fight.

Calzaghe was in the States for Mayweather-Mosley, and in remarkably good shape for someone 2 years into retirement, which fueled speculation he was considering a comeback bout.

If the Welshman does come back, more than likely it would be for the Super Six winner or Bute. Calzaghe was adamant following the Hopkins bout that he would never fight Bernard again. And fans were not demanding a rematch either of the foul-filled bout.

On the other hand, Bute may fancy the Hopkins showdown since his biggest super-middleweight opponents are tied up with the Super Six for the next year. The big question would be the weight, as Hopkins has been campaigning in recent years at light-heavyweight.

Until someone decisively beats him, Bernard Hopkins looks like he won’t even consider retirement.

Mayweather-Pacquiao Reps Hope to Prevent Previous Media Fiasco

Many fans and media still have a bitter taste in their mouths after the most anticipated fight in boxing history fell through in February over disagreements on Olympic style drug testing.

Following dominant victories for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in their last fights, both camps have begun quiet preliminary talks to resurrect the fight.

Bob Arum recently spoke to ESPN and advised that both sides have vowed to iron out their differences behind closed doors without regular media updates. Last time, Arum was one of the main culprits of “media negotiation,” and regularly disparaged Mayweather’s camp during the process, and later with the last-ditch third-party mediation.

Skepticism aside, I believe both parties have come to grips that no other opponent is acceptable besides each other. Between them, Pacquiao and Mayweather have eliminated the other top welterweights (Mosley, Clottey, Cotto) between them, and proved that they are far more talented than anyone else in the division. Now is the time to see who the best fighter in the world is.

While it’s still early, expect this one to end up in Las Vegas with a 50-50 purse split, and Mayweather getting the Olympic style testing, but with some provision that stops it at least 10-14 days before the fight.
At press time, the fight is targeted for November.

Source: allhiphop.com

The Manny Pacquiao Wars Part II: Rise of the Player Haters

By Steve Lewis, BoxingNews24.com

Previously, I had written about the common post-Pacquiao fight phenomenon called “Monday Morning Quarterbacking.” There is also another sister effect to Monday Morning Quarterbacking. It has been part of our landscape since time immemorial. It is what is referred to by the newer generation as “player hating,” which is often defined as the disliking, resenting, or disapproving of a person due to his/her success or coveted assets. The term “player hater” is often associated with those who are jealous or envious of someone else’s achievements.

Whether it is a frivolous and unsubstantiated claim of steroid use, or claims that Manny Pacquiao drains out opponents, or that he avoids fighters of a particular nationality, or that he plain lacks the skills of a true pugilist, people who make such criticisms often have an agenda. And one will be hard-pressed to be objective and unbiased when there is an agenda dictating how they view and perceive things.

It is often baffling why such a nice, humble, yet exciting fighter like Manny Pacquiao would be a target of player haters. He does not have the same self-aggrandizing pomp and brash personality of a Floyd Mayweather, nor the verbal antics of a Ricardo Mayorga, but for some reason, Pacquiao is an easy target. For the fan base of other fighters out there, it is perhaps the product of their disdain for Pacquiao’s rabid fan base and fanatical following, rather than due to Pacquiao himself. Now every major fighter has their legion of followers, but be that as it may, that is no reason to hate on the man himself. One needs to separate the “idol” from the “idolaters.” Those are two separate entities.

But for other fighters, trainers, or promoters who player hate, theirs is due to something much more concrete: the pursuit of the almighty buck! Now money is not the only thing. Reputations and one’s place in the sports landscape and hierarchy factor in.

Nate Campbell: It has already been well documented that Nate Campbell had always desired a match against Pacquiao. Join the long list of those wanting to strike it rich in the Pacquiao sweepstakes. What differentiates Campbell as a Pacquiao player hater from all other would-be challengers is that Campbell does not primarily focus on his own attributes as a challenger, but rather downplays and belittles Pacquiao’s attributes as an opponent instead. It’s a classic “I-don’t-want-you-to-focus-on-my-shortcomings-so-let-me-deflect-the-attention-elsewhere” routine.

Others like Edwin Valero will not say, “Pacquiao sucks.” But rather Valero makes a case for himself by citing his punching power as a possible factor in defeating Pacquiao. The same with Shane Mosley. He does not demean Pacquiao in trying to land a match against him, but rather cites to his size, speed and championship experience to prove his worth.

So Nate Campbell’s grandstanding does not get taken seriously, particularly with the irresponsible use of the race card and claims that Pacquiao does not fight people at their own weight. Well, guess what? Pacquiao does not fight at his own weight either! Who knows what weight class he really belongs in? Is he a junior welter or a welterweight? Or is he just a bulked up lightweight? We’re not sure! So these justifications by Campbell is without much merit. Ivan Calderon can balloon all the way up to cruiserweight and challenge Vitali Klitschko at a catch-weight at the cruiserweight limit, and if Calderon pummels Klitschko to a bloody pulp, Campbell would probably say that Calderon did not beat Klitschko at his natural weight (heavyweight), rather than marvel at the fact that a way smaller guy went up in weight and beat a bigger man. That is what is referred to as a “lack of perspective.”

And as a side note, as I see this constantly out there, 147 pounds is the welterweight MAXIMUM LIMIT. It does not mean that you have to weigh in at 147 to be a welterweight! All that is required for one to be a welterweight is to weight above 140 pounds, and no more than 147. So many people cannot grasp this concept of a weight ceiling. 147 is max, not a minimum. If the argument was “Allow a welterweight to max out at the limit if he wants to,” then fine. But get the concepts straight.

And arguments about weight drain are overly exaggerated anyway. If Miguel Cotto were asked to fight at lightweight or even at jr. welter, then yes. There may be some merit there. But remember, Pacquiao did not have to do anything for Cotto. Pacquiao could have easily said, “Hey, Miguel. Want in on the Pacquiao sweepstakes? You come down to my division at 140.” But he didn’t. Instead, Pacquiao decided that he would be the one to climb up to welterweight, with the concession that Cotto come in one pound under what he previously came in at (which was 146 for the Joshua Clottey fight). Was that an unreasonable request? It was probably unnecessary, but was it unreasonable? If that extra one pound was make-or-break for Cotto, then that’s an indication of bigger problems. As I have said in football, if you can’t get a 1st down on 4th and inches, you probably don’t deserve to win anyway.

Paulie Malignaggi: Another example of a fighter who is proven wrong one too many times, and has to find a reason as to why he gets debunked constantly. Malignaggi predicted a Pacquiao loss in both the Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto fight. Both predictions missed their mark. But to rationalize and justify his gross miscalculation, he implicitly attributes it to something sinister instead: steroids (and then cowers behind a disclaimer that he’ll “leave it at that”). And you can lump in the Mayweathers among this group. How could they be so wrong in their assessment of Pacquiao? “Well, it must be something like steroids because I can’t possibly be that off, can I?”

It should be noted that Malignaggi lost to both Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton. And for him to witness the spectacular dismantling of those two by Pacquiao leaves Malignaggi in quandary, because where does that put him in relation to Pacquiao? Afraid perhaps to realize that Pacquiao is light years ahead of him, it is easier to dismiss it by alleging steroid use as a way to explain the unpalatable (which the Nevada State Athletic Commission has already confirmed that Pacquiao is clean). Malignaggi goes the extra mile in belittling the NSAC’s testing procedures, stating how it’s easy to beat the tests. Now that’s really grasping for straws. If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

All other boxers who still think that Pacquiao’s achievements are not all that special: let us see you do better. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the current top-10 super featherweight or lightweight division who can legitimately beat Miguel Cotto, even at a 145 lb catch-weight. Find me a flyweight champion or contender who you think has a legitimate shot at a world welterweight title a decade down the line.

Just last calendar year, 2008, Pacquiao was fighting in the super featherweight division before his ascent up the ranks. So it’s not like Pacquiao has had much time to settle above 130. In 2009, he captures the WBO welterweight title. Can Humberto Soto or Robert Guerrero take out Cotto at 145 lbs? How about Juan Manuel Marquez? We saw how ineffective he was above 140. Or how about Nate Campbell himself? The same guy who has twice lost to Robbie Peden, fell short against Isaac Hlatswayo, lost to Francisco Lorenzo, and battled Edelmiro Martinez to a draw in 2003 (so he can’t say he was a skinny teenager back then).

In other words, only a rare specimen like Pacquiao can do what he achieved. The guy debuted as a straw-weight and is now a welterweight champion, for goodness sake. And he didn’t squeak points-wins against De La Hoya, Hatton, and Cotto either. He knocked those guys around and scored TKO wins against all three! And it’s too bad that a good number of people lack the perspective to appreciate such a feat. Of course, some have to in order to protect their claim as the better fighter (Mayweather), or for strictly financial reasons (Campbell), or simply because they can’t explain and accept that someone could be that good (Malignaggi). Then there are those, who, in today’s age of pseudo journalists/internet bloggers, just like to stir up the pot and see people become hot and bothered (S & P?).

But such is the business. As they often retort, “Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.”

Source: boxingnews24.com

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Friend becomes foe for Bradley

Leighton Ginn • The Desert Sun • October 28, 2009

RANCHO MIRAGE — For several reasons, Cathedral City boxer Timothy Bradley said his bout against Lamont Peterson is a fight he did not want to take.

Bradley has made it public for a long time that he's aiming to fight a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather for the mega-millions.

Peterson, although the WBO interim champion and top contender, isn't one of those big-name fighters — yet.

Bradley will defend his WBO title against Peterson on Dec. 12 at The Show in the Agua Caliente Casino, Resort and Spa. The fight will be telecast on Showtime. Tickets for the fight went on sale this week.

But Bradley knows that Peterson, a friend since they were teenagers on the U.S. national travel team, is just as dangerous. And for a fight that brings so much risk, there is little reward for Bradley.

“I really didn't want to take this fight, but I had to to keep my title,” the WBO junior welterweight champion (140 pounds) said Tuesday at a news conference to make the official announcement. “I'm fighting this fight because I have to. I want to keep my world title. I want to fight the best fighters in the world. Peterson is a great fighter, one of the best in the world, but there are a couple ahead of him right now.”

Since Bradley became a champion in May of last year, he has backed up his reputations with victories against a deadly Edner Cherry and then beat WBO champion Kendall Holt in a unification bout.

With each victory, Bradley has enhanced his reputation.

Ring Magazine, which ranks the fighters regardless of federations and titles, has Pacquiao as its champion with Bradley the No. 1 contender.

“I feel I'm at this point in my career where every fight is critical,” Bradley said. “A loss to Lamont Peterson, everything I worked for in my career is down the toilet. That's why every fight is critical.”

However, Peterson is the mandatory title defense for Bradley, who already relinquished his WBC title so he could fight Nate Campbell.

“I want to keep my world title,” Bradley said. “I love my WBO title and I have to go through guys like Lamont Peterson to keep my title and get the bigger fights later.”

Bradley's promoter, Gary Shaw, has been working on getting one of the marquee names for his fighter.

“The reality of our business is, we need those fighters to want us. You need Mayweather to want Bradley, you need Pacquiao to want Bradley,” Shaw said. “Timmy knows we're trying to get him the big fights. He's young, he's eager, but he has to be patient.”

(This article is originally posted at mydesert.com)

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