Kevin on Boxing

Oscar jabs at 'Pretty Boy'

Oscar De La Hoya has been at the receiving end of plenty of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s trash talk since the pair signed in December for the May 5 blockbuster fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
On Wednesday during a conference call with reporters, De La Hoya fired back. He called Mayweather a villain, vowed to race across the ring at the opening bell and said he believed Mayweather is getting nervous.
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ed Graney indicated that Mayweather is hardly concerned, though, and pointed out that Mayweather will be in better condition despite De La Hoya's boasts.

Can Oscar's undercard stand on its own?

A few months back, I wrote in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the May 5 blockbuster between Oscar De La Hoya and pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. represented an opportunity for De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions to create new fans by adding a sensational undercard to what will be the most-watched fight in many years.
But have they done it? I have my doubts. The primary undercard bout is one between Rocky Juarez and Jose Hernandez. The other bout on the PPV card is Rey Bautista vs. Sergio Medina.
Let me know if you're anxious for these fights on their own merit or whether you think Golden Boy blew its chance.

I'm headed to Yahoo!

I'm excited to announce I've accepted a job as the boxing/MMA columnist for Yahoo! Sports. I'll begin my job on May 1.
It's a great opportunity for me to expand my reach, working under the direction of Dave Morgan and for the largest Internet site in the world.
Yahoo! has great plans and I'm pleased to be a part of it.
I've been at the Las Vegas Review-Journal for nearly 17 years and I'm grateful to the wonderful folks I've worked with over the years.
The Yahoo! job is a big challenge and I can't wait to begin.

Top Rank heads back to court

It only seems that Top Rank officials spend more time in court than they do in a boxing ring.
But the Las Vegas-based promoter, which is engaged in a nasty lawsuit with Golden Boy Promotions over the rights to Manny Pacquiao, is now suing another Southern California based promoter.
Top Rank filed suit against Goossen Tutor Promotions in District Court in Las Vegas to try to prevent a WBO welterweight title fight between Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams.
Top Rank announced in January that Margarito would meet WBA champion Miguel Cotto on June 9 in New York, though Margarito never signed. GTP's Dan Goossen, who promotes Williams, submitted a purse bid and won the right to promote a Williams-Margarito bout.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum cried foul, saying he was told by Margarito's managers not to submit a purse bid for a fight with Williams because they were prepared to fight Cotto.
This spate of lawsuits illustrates what is wrong with the sport and why its popularity is dwindling. The more boxing winds up in court the sleazier its reputation appears.

Smith relaxed on eve of big fight

Ishe Smith said he has overcome the problems that have plagued him since he starred on Season 1 of the reality series, "The Contender," and is confident he'll give a good performance against Sechew Powell as part of HBO's tripleheader tonight.
In my column in Saturday's Las Vegas Review-Journal, Smith accepts the blame for the problems that have plagued him since his time on the cast of the show.
"What I should have been thinking was that I fell into a good situation that would help me take care of my family better," Smith said. "I should have worried about how I could have been a better husband and father. Instead, what I did was I blew up. I used to go around like, 'Hey, I'm Ishe. I'm this big TV star.' It was a great opportunity, but so much out of it went the wrong way for me.
"I went through a terrible arbitration (with show executives) because of it. People viewed me in so many ways, most of them not good. I realized I needed to be more humble and more appreciative of what people do for me."
He said he reuinted with trainer Danny Smith and spent the past seven weeks in isolation in Arkansas.
Smith is an extremely gifted fighter, but hasn't always been mentally strong and that has caused him numerous problems. If he's straightened those problems out, he could become a factor at super welterweight.
He'll need to start by proving that tonight.

Roach scorches Arum

Trainer Freddie Roach took the gloves off in what could become an ugly feud with Top Rank's Bob Arum.
Roach, who earlier this week was named the 2006 Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America, ripped Arum in an interview with Lisa Scott of Fightnews.com for his handling of Manny Pacquiao, whom Roach trains.
Roach tells Scott that Arum chose Jorge Solis as Pacquiao's opponent on April 14 without getting his opinion.
"I have no idea who he is," Roach said of Solis. "You know, they accepted him as an opponent without seeing a tape on the guy. No one knows who he is. They saw his record of 32-0 and said: ‘He's OK,' and that's unethical on Bob Arum's part."
Roach will be in Oscar De La Hoya's training camp when the Pacquiao fight occurs, so don't be surprised if Arum tries to use his absence to drive a wedge between the fighter and trainer.

Roach says money is secondary

Trainer Freddie Roach will receive $1.3 million to train Oscar De La Hoya for his May 5 showdown with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bill Dwyre reports in this excellent column in the Los Angeles Times.
But Roach, who lives in an apartment above his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, tells Dwyre that the money isn't the reason he took the job.
"I'm not a money guy," Roach tells Dwyre.
He's there, he said, to win, and to help De La Hoya be the first man to defeat Mayweather.
But Roach is leaving four of his other fighters who have world title fights behind to concentrate on training De La Hoya. He said that's why winning on May 5 is imperative.
"That's why, if we don't win," he says, "this all sucks."

Peter declines $2.5 million step-aside fee

Heavyweight contender Samuel Peter earned a shot at the WBC belt held by Oleg Maskaev by defeating James Toney in an eliminator on Jan. 6. But since that fight, former WBC champion Vitali Klitschko announced his comeback and his desire to meet Maskaev on April 21.
In a story I did in in Monday's Las Vegas Review-Journal, Klitschko adviser Shelly Finkel said he offered Peter $2.5 million to step aside and allow Klitschko-Maskaev to occur. Finkel said he also promised Peter the winner would fight him immediately.
But Peter promoter Dino Duva didn't bite and said he wants the title shot.
"This is a business and you never say never," Duva said. "But Samuel's focus is on getting the title shot and winning the belt.
"Realistically, we'll consider all options, but for us to consider (stepping aside), it would have to be very, very lucrative and there would have to be strict time deadlines when Maskaev-Klitschko would occur and then when the fight between Sam and the winner would occur."

Mosley wins title with young man's performance

Sugar Shane Mosley won the WBC welterweight title on Saturday, performing at 35 like a 25-year-old in scoring an easy unanimous decision victory over Luis Collazo at Mandalay Bay.
Mosley won by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 119-108. My card had it 117-110 for Mosley.
He used the right hand effectively and limited Collazo, who said he injured his left hand in the third round, to less than 100 connects.
"The southpaw affected me a bit," Mosley said. "If I was too fast, he'd catch me with a left hook or in the neck. I knew I was faster than him and I could hit him with the quick jabs."
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said he would be willing to match Mosley with WBA champion Miguel Cotto in June given that Cotto no longer has an opponent for that date. He was to fight WBO champion Antonio Margarito, but Margarito signed to fight mandatory challenger Paul Williams.
Schaefer said the possibility of the bout depends on Cotto promoter Bob Arum treating Golden Boy with respect during negotiations.

Age hasn't caught up with Mosley

Age hasn't caught up with Sugar Shane Mosley, I write in this column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mosley is out to prove youth isn't wasted on the young and will get a chance to do it when he meets Luis Collazo at Mandalay Bay and before a national television audience on HBO for the WBC interim welterweight title.
Mosley has struggled in fights above 147 pounds, going 3-2 with one no contest, but he's almost unbeatable from welterweight on down.
He said he feels so good he believes he'd knock out pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. if they were fighting tonight.
"This night of fighting, at the level I'm at now, anybody I jump in the ring with, I'm ready for," Mosley said. "Including Mayweather. That's way over Mayweather. I feel I'd knock Mayweather out were we fighting on this night."