Whether he’s in the ring or on the phone, Floyd Mayweather Jr. never forgets that he’s boxing’s best counterpuncher.
Boxing
For Jesus Magdaleno, it would be quite a hat trick. For Michael Hunter, it would be a sweet daily double.
There’s no video evidence from the time Oliver McCall and Franklin Lawrence sparred in 2007 in a Kentucky gym. But chances are it looked a lot like their heavyweight fight Friday at The Orleans.
As first steps in comebacks go, Oliver McCall was pleased with his second-round knockout of John Hopoate on May 22 at The Orleans.
The Nevada Athletic Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to institute instant replay on a limited basis for boxing and mixed martial arts events.
Saturday was not a good night to be a Concepcion in Las Vegas.
A boxing era came to an end Friday as Top Rank closed the doors to its gym, home to world champions and undercard fighters.
Nonito Donaire had trouble finding sparring partners when he was training for his world flyweight title fight with Moruti Mthalane in November.
Steven Luevano, reigning WBO featherweight champion, hasn’t fought since October and he’s eager to get back in the ring.
Gary Shaw is certain of it. He thinks boxing still has it over mixed martial arts in one specific way. He has no doubt that when a megafight occurs, when a Manny Pacquiao steps into a ring and faces a Ricky Hatton, when so many movie stars show up that Denzel Washington is relegated to the 15th row, when the lights are blinding and the buzz deafening, the advantage still falls to boxing.
You still see it in movies. How boxing once was. How it truly mattered to all those watching. How the action inside the ring was thought far more exciting than whatever celebrity might be attending outside it.
Now that Manny Pacquiao has agreed to fight Miguel Cotto, trainer Freddie Roach will have several months to put Pacquiao’s game plan in place for the Nov. 14 bout at the MGM Grand Garden.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum announced Monday that everything is set for Manny Pacquiao, considered boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, to face WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden. The nontitle fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, will be contested at a catch weight of 145 pounds.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. had plenty of respect for Arturo Gatti, and the Las Vegan expressed that after learning of Gatti’s death last week.
The card was supposed to be the opening act this weekend for the headline performer. But when an injury forced Floyd Mayweather Jr. to postpone his welterweight fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, it had the stage to itself.
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