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Pacquiao retains crown in tight third battle with Marquez

‘Pacman’ now 2-0-1 against Mexican rival

Manny Pacquiao remains the WBO welterweight champion in an edgy trilogy bout with world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight that could have gone either way.

The 32 year-old looked out of sorts for the first few rounds as Marquez, 38, frustrated the Filipino with his backfoot tactics and countered the champion supremely to gain the upper hand in the first half of the fight.

Pacquiao came on strong in the second half after taking a tongue lashing from trainer Freddie Roach who told him in no uncertain terms that he was losing the fight and his title.

‘Dinamita’ continued to limit the eight-time champion to only a handful of shots landing per round and could have easily won the fight by anything from two to four rounds.

As it was, Pacquiao was given a majority decision in the end to jeers from the crowd 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113 to retain his 147lb belt for the third time in his two-year reign.

A forlorn Marquez walked disgusted from the ring after the decision and avoided an after-fight interview with HBO in the ring feeling that he had been wronged by the result for the third time.

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Bradley fails to impress against 40 year-old Casamayor

‘Desert Storm’ takes out faded champion

WBO light-welterweight champion Timothy Bradley retained his title with a routine win over a lacklustre Joel Casamayor at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas by stopping the 40 year-old in eight rounds.

The 28 year-old took every round from the Cuban scoring two knockdowns in the process to improve to 28-0 and hopefully move on to bigger future challenges after a safe first fight under new promoters Top Rank.

Rival Amir Khan was ringside for the bout in his commentating role for UK pay-per-view broadcasters Primetime and seemed unimpressed with Bradley’s opponent, who didn’t offer much resistance to the champion.

Bradley and Khan could meet each other if the Briton comes through his next WBA and IBF title defence against Lamont Peterson in December, with the former Olympic silver medallist admitting that he wants to pursue a bout between the two next year.

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Jermain Taylor rescheduled to return on December 10

‘Bad Intentions’ back down to middleweight

Former world middleweight king Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KO’s) returns to his old weight after a disastrous spell at 168lbs on December 10th in his home town of Little Rock, Arkansas.

The 33 year-old had originally planned to make his comeback following a two-year semi-retirement in August but after concerns about his weight, the former Super-Six participant was forced to postpone and convince the boxing board otherwise.

‘Bad Intentions’ is now pencilled in to fight at the Verizon Arena against an as yet un-named opponent at 160lbs and hopes to rebuild his reputation after a series of bad performances led to concerns about his health.

Taylor has had brain problems in the past but was given the green light to resume his career after extensive tests and with all four of his losses coming in his last five contests, the former champion has a lot to prove to his doubters.

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Roach: Pacquiao vs Khan? Never say never, we’re running out of opponents

Trainer thinks bout unlikely but won’t rule it out fully

Top trainer Freddie Roach is insistent that he would never totally rule out a possible fight between gym-mates and world champions Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan but does concede that a bout could be hard to make.

Roach, 51, is currently working with Pacquiao for his upcoming trilogy fight with Juan Manuel Marquez and as speculation continues to mount about a mega-fight between his two protégé’s, the coach refused to dismiss a fight entirely.

“My two fighters are really friendly with each other” stated Roach to the Philippine Star.

“I don’t think they’ll ever fight but the thing is we’re running out of opponents and you can never say never in this game.”

Khan, 24, is back in the ring in December in his final bout at 140lbs and will then move up to 32 year-old Pacquiao’s current division at welterweight, where the Filipino legend holds the WBO title.

The Bolton fighter will then fight in his native UK, possibly against Matthew Hatton in March before the WBA and IBF light-welterweight title-holder can then attempt to lure Floyd Mayweather into the ring in the latter part of 2012.

Pacquiao is also constantly linked to a bout with Mayweather although it is thought that Khan is the more likely of the two to meet ‘Money’ in a 2012 money-spinning title clash.

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Rugby Star Jonah Lomu forced to quit boxing dream

Illness forces the ‘Big Man’ to cancel fight plans

Rugby Union superstar Jonah Lomu has been forced to cancel an upcoming charity boxing match after his kidney condition worsened in the run up to his December bout at the ‘Fight for Life’ event.

The 36 year-old, who was diagnosed with a kidney disorder in 1995 and forced to undergo a life-saving operation in 2004, had always dreamed of being a boxer but has now had to give up a fight career on doctors’ advice.

The New Zealander’s punishing training regime is thought to have contributed to a two-week stay in hospital for the former All Black in September and Lomu has now decided against continuing with the contest.

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Freddie Roach dismisses Tim Bradley bout for Manny Pacquiao

Trainer says 140lb champion hasn’t earned the right

Timothy Bradley’s hopes of gaining a money-spinning match-up with welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao have been scoffed at by the Filipino fighter’s trainer Freddie Roach, who believes that the American isn’t well known enough to warrant a potential bout.

Roach is deep in preparations with the WBO 147lb belt holder for his upcoming third fight with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez and says Bradley needs to get his own house in order before looking at a bout with the eight-time champion.

“I think he’s involved in a lawsuit with two promoters,” Roach told the Philippine Star.

“Besides, he’s got to earn the fight with Manny. Bradley’s not well known. It’s premature to even consider him fighting Manny.”

Bradley, 28, is pencilled in to fight Cuban Joel Casamayor on the undercard of Pacquiao v Marquez III at the MGM Grand next month and is expected to move up to 147lbs in 2012 along with Pacquiao stablemate and fellow light-welterweight champion Amir Khan.

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Results: October 21/22

Saturday 22nd October

Nonito Donaire bt Omar Narvaez (UD) (120-108, 120-108, 120-108)

(WBC and WBO bantamweight titles)

Mikey Garcia bt JC Martinez (TKO) (4th round)

(featherweight)

Marco Huck bt Rogelio Rossi (TKO) (6th round)

(WBO cruiserweight title)

Alberto Mosquera (D) Brunet Zamora (MD) (117-111, 114-114, 114-114)

(interim WBA light-welterweight title)

Richard Abril bt Miguel Acosta (UD) (117-108, 115-111, 113-112)

(interim WBA lightweight title)

Nehomar Cermeno (D) Chris Avalos (SD) (77-75, 75-77, 76-76

(super-bantamweight)

Scott Quigg bt Jason Booth (RET) (7th round)

(British super-bantamweight title)

Karl Place bt Ivan Godor (PTS)

(light-welterweight)

Friday 21st October

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam bt Edgar Sosa (UD) (117-110, 117-110, 116-111)

(WBC flyweight title)

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Donaire takes every round from Narvaez in final fight at 118lbs

Filipino fails to ‘Flash’ at the MSG Theater

WBC and WBO bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire inflicted the first defeat on two-weight world champion Omar Narvaez last night in what turned out to be one of the Filipino’s less dazzling performances as he found it tough to penetrate the Argentinian’s tight defence.

The 28 year-old, who moves up to 122lbs for his next bout, looked for angles constantly in a vain attempt to stop the rugged super-flyweight champion but eventually took a landslide points win on all three cards.

The action heated up in the tenth as Donaire reacted to the boos from the lack of action but the contest reverted straight back in the eleventh to the almost 5,000 capacity crowd’s dismay.

The ‘Filipino Flash’ had hoped to wow the crowd in his last fight at the weight after eight months out of the ring but had to settle for a 120-108 score on all the cards as Narvaez seemed intent with taking Donaire the distance.

“I don’t know what’s going on in his head,” stated Donaire. “He didn’t want to fight.

“As great as he is in Argentina, he decided to shut down.”

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Mikey Garcia impressive as he stops JC Martinez in four

Featherweight now 27-0 with 23rd stoppage

California’s Mikey Garcia proved his credentials once again with a fourth round stoppage victory over Juan Carlos Martinez at the MSG-WaMu Theater in New York.

The 23 year-old, who has an 85% knockout rate, looked in control for the whole of the fight and apart from a swelling under the left eye, was never in any discomfort against the Mexican.

Garcia spent the first two rounds softening ‘El Pez’ up before dropping him with two sweet left hooks right at the end of the round and sense a finish before the bell saved Martinez.

In the fourth, with his eye worsening, Garcia stepped up his attacks and put Martinez down twice before the referee stepped in to save the 29 year-old from further punishment.

Garcia now has 27 wins under his belt and is looking at a world title in 2012, with talks of a potential challenge against IBF champion Billy Dib in the next few months.

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Alvarez v Cintron to form triple-header with Broner and Russell Jr.

‘Canelo’ puts his title on the line for a third time

Saul Alvarez will tackle former welterweight world champion Kermit Cintron on November 26th in what will now be broadcast as an HBO triple-header from Cincinnati, Ohio and the WBC light-middleweight title holder’s native Mexico.

The 21 year-old, who fights for the fourth time this year, amazingly participates in his 40th career bout in six years as a professional, without loss and is expected to finalize a venue in the coming days.

Cintron (33-4-1, 28 KO’s) will participate in his sixth world title fight after a spell as IBF 147lb champion between 2006 and 2008 when he eventually lost to Antonio Margarito, who had also beaten him three years previously in his first world title bout.

The contest will link up with the double feature from Cincinnati on the night as undefeated super-featherweight Adrien Broner challenges for his first world title against an opponent yet to be confirmed, but rumoured to be Vicente Rodriguez of Argentina.

The 21 year-old, who has a perfect 21-fight record with 17 knockouts, will attempt to gain the WBO title vacated by Ricky Burns, who has moved up to lightweight to fight Michael Katsidis on November 5th in London.

In chief support, is Maryland native Gary Russell Jr. who looks to move to 19-0 against an un-named foe at featherweight.

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Mundine takes unanimous decision win over Alvarez

‘The Man’ claims interim WBA title

Anthony Mundine overcame Mexican Rigoberto Alvarez at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in New South Wales, Australia today with a unanimous points victory that was conclusive on two out of three cards to claim the interim WBA light-middleweight strap.

The 36 year-old was awarded the bout 117-111 on two of the judges’ cards and 114-113 on the third, to improve his record to 43-4, 25 KO’s and put himself in line to face American WBA champion Austin Trout in 2012.

Alvarez, 33, falls to his second consecutive interim title loss after suffering the fate to Trout in February and will now have to re-think his next career move as he drops to 27-4,20 KO’s.

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Ashley Theophane's take on Cleverly v Bellew and James DeGale

This weekend saw a night full of quality fights as James DeGale picked up the European Super Middleweight title in a very close fight that could have gone either way.

James demonstrated that he has heart as well as talent. He really must not be allowed to end up like former Olympic and World champion, David Reid, who was fast tracked and eventually badly burnt out within a few years of reaching the top.

There is no substitute for experience, no matter how good the ‘raw talent’.

James can be a World champion, but from where I sit, he really needs to be a little patient and gain the necessary experience. He desperately wants to fight for a World title by the London Olympics in 2012, but I feel he needs to wait a little longer maybe until 2013. Carl Froch, Andre Ward and Lucien Bute are quite a bit above him at this point in his career, but he can get there. Patience is the key.

The much awaited and angry local British affair for the WBO 175lb World championship saw Nathan Cleverly beat Tony Bellew in a war of attrition, nutrition and conditioning. Bellew has come down from being an amateur heavyweight and a professional cruiserweight, and has looked less than ‘honed’.

Bellew started boxing nicely and winning rounds but as he got tired, Cleverly’s better conditioning and experience took over, and saw him win by the smallest of margins (despite the insultingly wide margins by two judges).

Tony had talked a lot and loudly in the build-up to the fight and he certainly backed up his boasts, despite not winning. He clearly demonstrated that he is a talented fighter and with three ABA championships behind him he has the same quality amateur pedigree as Joe Calzaghe.

He will come again.

Nathan Cleverly was also very good, but perhaps not quite ready for the world’s best just yet. Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson, Jean Pascal and Tavois Cloud are the four top fighters in the division. Nathan is Europe’s best, but he has a way to go before he is in the league of the world’s best.

Frank Warren is very shrewd and not keen on risking his champions unnecessarily stateside, so I will be very surprised if Nathan fights any of the top four fighters in the near future.

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