Saturday, September 25, 2010
Perez-Salcido tops prospect stacked undercard
Hayemaker Boxing: David Haye UK Booksignings On Saturday
The boxer will be on hand in Selfridges in Manchester at mid-day (12 pm) and will then travel to Selfridges in Birmingham for a 5pm signing in the Midlands.
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Weekend Preview: Klitschko, Gamboa
Arum adds more U.S. sites as options for Pacman-Margarito
Bob Arum has a love-hate relationship with Las Vegas and the Nevada State Athletic Commission so he's not about to wait around while the powers that be mull over their decision to grant Antonio Margarito a license to fight. If Top Rank successfully strong-armed the NSAC, it was initially thought that Las Vegas was the favorite to get the Margarito-Manny Pacquiao fight. But just in case the NSAC refuses to reinstate Margarito, Arum is throwing Cowboys Stadium and Atlantic City into the mix, according to Keith Idec from the North Jersey Herald.
MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are considered Arum's top two choices, but sources close to the situation believe Boardwalk Hall has become a viable alternative because executives at Arum's Top Rank Inc. think New Jersey's State Athletic Control Board would approve Margarito's application for a license to box in this state. Haledon native Nick Lembo, general counsel for the SACB, declined comment Tuesday because Margarito has yet to submit an application.
This is an interesting twist since the NSAC already tabled Margarito's initial request and told him to head back to California, the state that initially handed down a one-year suspension back in February of 2009. If New Jersey approved Margarito's license, it might indicate that Nevada is no longer the standard-bearer when it comes to state commissions.
Margarito will fight Pacquiao at one of the three U.S. sites mentioned. If all three states turn away Margarito then Monterrey, Mexico, could be the backup plan.
Guillermo Rigondeaux Packs Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito Card
Filed under: WBA, WBC, WBO, Boxing Rumors, HBO, Showtime, FanHouse Exclusive, Top Rank Promotions
Cuban-born southpaw and two-time former Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux, who has been competing as a professional super bantamweight (122 pounds), will face Panamanian southpaw featherweight (126 pounds) Ricardo Cordoba on what has become a monster undercard to the Nov. 13 junior middleweight (154 pounds) championship main event featuring Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao (pictured above) and Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC crown at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
The show already includes the return of 28-year-old former WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 knockouts) of Youngstown, Ohio, against Bryan Lee Vera (17-5, 11 KOs), of Austin, Tex., along with rising Philadelphia welterweight (147 pounds) Mike Jones (22-0, 18 KOs) in a bout opposite Mexican-born Jesus Soto Karass (24-4-3, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles.
Of course, seven-division king and WBO welterweight titlist Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), of the Philippines, will pursue his eighth crown in as many weight classes opposite ex-titlist Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs), of Tijuana, Mex.
CES Boxing: Spina vs. Oliveira Foxwoods Clash Turns Unfriendly
Morales KOs Limond in six
Peter ready to go back in time for second chance against Klitschko
One fight can make all difference in the careers of the two combatants. That was certainly the case when Samuel Peter met Wladimir Klitschko met in 2005. Peter was the hot prospect while that version of Klitschko had a weak chin and even more shaky mental game. "The Nigerian Nightmare" hammered away and dropped Klitschko down three times but couldn't put the Ukranian down for the count. Working Emmanuel Steward, Klitschko survived and when he was upright, schooled Peter from a technical standpoint and took a unanimous decision. Since then Klitschko has won nine straight fights and risen to undisputed No. 1 big man in the world while Peter has battled his weight, a lack of motivation and poor promotion.
Peter gets the gift of lifetime this weekend with the opportunity to finish what he couldn't five years ago. A fill-in for Alexander Povetkin, Peter battles Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs) on Saturday in Frankfurt, Germany. He says he won't blow it this time.
"I have a lot to prove. I have a chance to redeem myself from the 2005 fight. It is going to be a great fight. I am getting another chance to prove that I am the best heavyweight champion in all," said Peter. "The loss was a bad mistake. This time I am going to prove that I can become a champion again. I don't have much to say because I know that my gloves will speak for me in the ring."
Peter, who just turned 30, doesn't want to leave it to the judges.
"The victory and my judges I have in my right hand and the judge is my left hook," said Peter (30-3, 27 KOs). "There will not be a decision this time around. This time he will not get up from my left hook. I am ready and I am prepared and I will not need a referee or a judge. This time around anyone I touch will not be standing up. I don't think Wladimir will be able to stand me after four rounds."
The biggest key for Peter is his conditioning. Klitschko has become a brilliant volume puncher who wears down his opponents with an awesome jab. If Peter plans on wailing away like a mad man he can't come in at the bloated 260-plus we've seen him at in the past. His trainer Abel Sanchez says Peter has been dedicated during the eight-week training camp spending much of the time in Big Bear, Ca.
This fight and Vitali Klitschko's October fight will be on American television. Well, sort of. Since HBO bailed on the heavyweight division, the ESPN family of channels is making an effort to latch onto the powerhouse brothers. Expected to be waged in front of 45,000 fans, the fight at Commerzbank Arena, can be seen live on ESPN3.com at 5 p.m. ET. ESPN Deportes will replay the fight at 8 p.m. ET and there will be a replay on ESPN the next day at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Talk of Louis-Schmelling and helicopters, big fight has it all
Ever the promoter, Bob Arum is twirling quite the tale about the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman fight Saturday night at Yankee Stadium. Cotto, a Puerto Rican, has always been a huge draw with the massive Puerto Rican population in New York and New Jersey. But there's even more intrigue surrounding Foreman, an orthodox Jew, who is studying to be a Rabbi. Plus, it's the first sporting event other than baseball in the new Yankee Stadium, continuing a tradition of so many great pugilistic battles that took place in the old Yankee Stadium. Arum went back 70-plus years to draw the parallel with the great Joe Louis-Max Schmelling fight in 1938.
"It was a historical moment; it had a major effect on people around the world that was the time Adolf Hitler was expounding his theory on the master race, and so on, and it would have been a tremendous propaganda victory if Schmelling had won the fight. That fight is a watermark and will be remembered for years to come," Arum told Gareth A. Davies of the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.
Arum then went back thousands of years in talking about the significance of Foreman fighting.
"It will be totally different. When he starts his ring walk, the Shofar [the ram’s horn] will sound. In effect, remember, this was the like the bugle call which led the Ancient Israelites into battle in the time of King David and King Solomon."
Even the prefight trip to the stadium for Foreman will be something worth watching.
"Yuri can’t begin his work until after sundown on the Sabbath, which is over at 9.16pm. We have him in a hotel on the East Upper Side [in Manhattan] so he will get a police escort to the stadium with an HBO helicopter filming it all from above, following his journey to the Yankee Stadium."
Arum said there are still tickets available for the fight; with tickets ranging $50-$400. The stadium is configured to seat about 30,000. The ring, set up in front of the rightfield bleachers and stands, will be covered by a giant canopy. There will be roughly 10,000 seats on the field.
US, China to Meet in Boxing Exhibition
Promoter Dino Duva and his business partners have been working to help develop the Chinese national team for more than a year. Boxing has only recently caught on in China, and Duva says the Chinese Boxing Federation is eager to help build the sport.
Tony Owen next fight announced
The best of all time A to Z: Zale
Friday, September 24, 2010
Small Talk James DeGale
The Olympic gold medalist on wardrobes, vegetables and where to go out in Harlesden
Straight down to business, James: you will fight Carl "Dynamite" Dilks on 18 September. How's training going?
Training's going well. I've been in the gym for the past six weeks, getting fit and feeling nice. I can't wait. It's a British title eliminator, so hopefully by the end of the year I'll be fighting for the British title.
You visited Floyd Mayweather at his gym last year. How was that? He can be a little bit... opinionated sometimes.
That was great, that was amazing. He's one of my idols, so just to watch him train, to watch him spar, was amazing. We talked a few times. He knew I was an Olympic gold medalist. He got a bronze in Atlanta, so there was some respect there, a connection. It was just brilliant to see him.
If he ever gets it together with Manny Pacquiao, who do you think would win?
I'm a Mayweather man, I think he's the best boxer on the planet. It'd be a great fight, obviously, but he's the man.
Where's your Olympic medal now?
My paps keeps that somewhere. I don't even know where it is. He keeps it nice and safe. That's something proper special, so it's tucked away somewhere nice. That rarely comes out. The MBE, though, that's on show. That's in my room.
Did your dad really lock himself in a wardrobe during the Olympic final?
Yeah, he did. It was such a big and important fight, and I think it got to him. He comes to watch me fight sometimes but because it was an Olympic final he couldn't watch it so he went and hid.
You might have been a dancer ? do you still dance a bit?
I dance in clubs when I go out, but not any more than that. I was just following my sister. She was into it first, and now she's a qualified dance teacher. Boxing took over in the end, for me. I'm still good on my feet though so maybe it did help.
You'd be perfect for Strictly Come Dancing, but you turned down a place last year...
In a few years I would definitely do something like that, but the timing wasn't right for me. It's still about the boxing.
Your nickname is Chunky. Isn't that a bit rubbish? I mean, it's not The Hitman, or Bonecrusher, or Hands of Stone, or The Executioner, or The Count of Monte Fisto really is it?
I keep it real. Ever since I walked into a gym at the age of 10 they called me chunky. Everyone in the boxing world knows me as Chunk. They don't call me James, they call me Chunk. I don't mind it. I'm used to it.
You used to get a few boos from the crowd before your fights. Are you more popular now?
Everything's going well now. I started a bit shaky a year and a half ago. I got a couple of boos, but I think I've won people over now. By 2012 I want to be knocking on the door of the world title, or maybe a champion already. They won't be booing then.
What was the last film you saw?
I went to the premiere of The Expendables a while ago. What a film. A really good film that is.
So did you get to meet Sylvester Stallone? Or just Dolph Lundgren?
I didn't actually meet them but I was around them. I got pretty close. I went with Frank Warren. We got invited, I had a hard day in training and it was my little treat.
Were you a Rocky fan?
I loved the Rocky films, yeah. Rocky IV's my favourite, the one with the Russian.
What's the last music you bought/stole using a dodgy file-sharing website?
I was downloading the other night, just random singles. The Fray, a couple of theirs, Omarion, random stuff.
What's the last book you read?
I'm not really a reader, but every Thursday and Friday I read my Boxing News. I read the papers every day, but I'm not really a book reader.
What about food? What's your treat?
I love my food. The worst thing is having to make weight before a fight. It's hard to cut down. Hopefully in 10 years I'll have retired and I'll be able to do what I want. I like steaks, but I love a homemade roast, a nice roast dinner.
What's the world's worst vegetable?
I'm a good boy, I eat up all my vegetables. But if I've got to pick one it'll have to be sprouts. I don't like them, but when they're on my plate I'll eat them.
Cheese or chocolate?
I like cheese on toast, but probably chocolate.
What's your favourite pasta shape?
I like shells, or the spirally ones. Fusilli, yeah, that's the ones.
Where did you go on holiday this year?
In the space of about eight weeks I had three ? Cyprus for five days with my family, and Marbella for four nights, then three weeks later I went to Marbella again for four nights. Short, sharp, in and out, that's the best way. A nice relaxing break.
Do you still live near your parents in Harlesden?
Yeah, I still live in Harlesden. I'm looking for a house now, somewhere more near my gym, Essex way or something like that. I bought an apartment but I'm not good at living by myself so I'm always at home. My mum feeds me, she does my washing, so I'm there most of the time.
Can you recommend somewhere in Harlesden to go out?
In Harlesden? Oh no. No, no, no. Nowhere in Harlesden. You have to wander out a bit. There's a couple of nice places like Kensal Green way and that, still north-west London, but you have to get out of Harlesden. Me? I go out in central London, me and the boys will go out to one of the clubs in town. Mo*vida, somewhere like that.
Can you tell us a joke?
I'm not good with jokes, no. I don't know a joke at all. I like being told jokes, but I can't tell one myself. Sorry.
That's all right, James. Thanks for the chat. Good luck with the fight.
Cheers Small Talk. Bye!
Ortiz wants to be a fighter; Harris learns the hard way with 'vicious' KO
You can stop questioning Victor Ortiz's heart. Touted as the next big thing by Golden Boy promotions, Ortiz hit a nasty bump last year when was stopped by Marcos Maidana. A deflated Ortiz suggested that maybe he wasn't cut out to be a fighter. It was emotion speaking. His talent did the talking tonight against Vivian Harris. Ortiz smothered Harris and landed just about everything he threw. Harris hit the deck three times in the second and then was finished by a nasty right at the 0:45 of the third round of the undercard fight on the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora fight in Los Angeles.
Ortiz (28-2-1, 22 KOs) has now won two straight via knockout since the Maidana disaster.
"'I've learned quite a bit. I've progressed quite a bit," Ortiz told HBO announcer Larry Merchant. "I have Maidana to thank for that. I still want you buddy, wherever you're at."
Maidana has moved ahead of Ortiz in the 140-pound rankings and earned himself a fight against Amir Khan, the most glamorous name in the division. But Ortiz went a long way tonight to force a fight with the winner or winner of Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley.
"Vicious" Victor landed 25-of-54 power punches. He dropped Harris with both hands and landed some nasty power punches. That short right really showed off the unique power possessed by Ortiz.
"That was very short. My coaches, they all explained to me if I get in close and land that punch, there’s no way he’ll get up," said Ortiz. "I have to give the credit to the coaches."
Harris, a loser in three of his last four decisions, was blistered by the HBO announce team. Rightly so, Harris (29-5-1, 19 KOs) was tentative throughout only landing 9-of-49 punches in six-plus minutes.
AIBA Disciplinary Commission lifts suspension of Swedish Boxing Federation
Reviewing the AIBA EC Bureau decision to suspend the Swedish Boxing Federation and its administration, the AIBA Disciplinary Commission has dismissed the case, affirming that the matter did not seriously damage AIBA's image and reputation.
Spina-Oliveira in unfriendly fight
Golden Boy Promotions Sues Top Rank Promotions
Filed under: Golden Boy Promotions, Boxing Rumors, Top Rank Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Nevada on Tuesday against rival Top Rank Promotions, its CEO, Bob Arum, and CFO, David Lopez, accusing the duo of racketeering and fraud and seeking damages in the range of $3 to $5 million plus attorneys fees related to money generated from three Manny Pacquiao fights.According to the story, first repored by ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, Golden Boy Promotions owns a percentage of Pacquiao's promotional contract in accordance with a settlement between the two companies in 2007, and is owed millions of dollars from Pacquiao's 2008 lightweight title bout against David Diaz, his 2009 welterweight title bout against Miguel Cotto and his March welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey.
Pacquiao once signed with both companies in late 2006, but eventually stuck with Top Rank after the settlement. Under the grounds of the settlement, mediated by retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, Top Rank retained Pacquiao's promotional rights with Golden Boy due to receive a percentage of Top Rank's profits each time he fought.
English Amateur Boxing News ? Commonwealth Games
HBO blows it by not shining spotlight on Pirog
It was bizarre and uncalled for, but it shouldn't shock anyone familiar with the politics of boxing. Dmitry Pirog pulled off a huge upset via what might be boxing's 2010 knockout of the year. Less than five minutes after the young Russian laid out Golden Boy Promotions' golden child, Danny Jacobs, it was the loser who was on camera on HBO and not Pirog. What the heck happened?
Pirog showed up at the press conference with his crew of Russians, including an excellent interpreter, and appeared to have a nice personality with plenty to say.
HBO didn't feel like he was worthy of three minutes immediately after the fight?
Instead, Jim Lampley went immediately into "repair Jacobs' image mode" by providing excuses for the loss and saying all young prospects hit speedbumps along the way. Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole called it reprehensible and says once again HBO came off as a mouthpiece for Golden Boy.
The situation also put Jacobs in a terrible position. Jacobs was asked if the recent death of his grandmother was a big distraction leading up to the fight. He was lucky the feed to the crowd was barely audible otherwise he may have been booed by the 8,383 in attendance at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Jacobs even felt compelled to send out a Tweet a few hours after the fight. He must've heard it came off like he was making excuses for the loss.
Iole said HBO's obligation is to the viewer not Golden Boy.
Pirog got his props during the postfight press conference. He and his crew made several comments. Oscar De La Hoya even joked that the original plan was to celebrate the night by drinking tequila, now everyone would down some vodka in honor of the Russian's huge victory.
Pacquiao: Margarito had to know about pads
Odd job of the day: Mayweather teaching life skills class
Sports by Brooks found this gem on Floyd Mayweather's Twitter. That's right, it's Floyd teaching young boys the lessons of life. For all we know, Mayweather may have $2 billion stashed away in a Swiss bank account, but he seems to plow through money in less than responsible fashion. SBB put together this humorous list of bullet points that might have been on Floyd's curriculum.
Floyd Mayweather life skill #1: Ensure your personal safety by carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash around in a suitcase and Tweeting that fact to hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers.
Floyd Mayweather life skill #2: Ensure a stable financial future by investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in weekly sports wagers. (Dude absolutely slays the E-Trade baby on ROI.)
Check out the rest of the list as Mayweather bribes potential Twitter followers with diamond watches. He's also posted contractual offers, and brags about how much he makes each year.
Miguel Cotto Won't Face Kermit Cintron, Vanes Martirosyan
Filed under: WBA, Boxing Rumors, Top Rank Promotions
WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) king Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico will forgo a December bout with either Puerto Rican-born former two-time titlist Kermit Cintron of Houston or unbeaten Armenian-born prospect Vanes Martirosyan of Glendale, Calif., instead opting for a ring return in early 2011.
Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) had considered Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) or Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs) as replacements for Cotto's original opponent, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) of Mexico, who is now been considered for potential bouts opposite New Jersey resident Pawel Wolak (27-1, 17 KOs) or, possibly Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KOs) on Dec. 4.
Hernandez stops Anchondo in fourth round
Alvarez takes another step toward stardom
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Shane Mosley: Best I've Faced
Weekend Review: Big night for Giovani Segura
king professional boxing latest boxing matches
Looks like Pacman is headed to Dallas again
Bob Arum recognizes the fact that Las Vegas could use the economic boost from a big fight but he thinks the Nevada State Athletic Commission is dead set against allowing Antonio Margarito to fight anytime soon. So the back up plans are being lined up for his fight against Manny Pacquiao.
"If this fight does not wind up in Las Vegas, I don't want anyone to say that it was because of Bob Arum," he told Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole. "I live in this town and I know how much this city needs that event, but it looks like (the NSAC) is digging its heels in on this."
Iole says the favorite is now Cowboys Stadium, the site of the last Pacquiao fight against Joshua Clottey. He compares and contrasts the way Nevada handled Mike Tyson's many offenses in the past. Iole says Nevada is wrong to deny Margarito the chance to fight again.
Ricky Hatton's love of the high life sent him crashing back to earth | Kevin Mitchell
The Mancunian was Britain's most popular fighter but the people who idolised him proved to be his downfall
Shortly before leaving for Las Vegas towards the end of 2007 to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr, Ricky Hatton sat down over a cup of tea in his gym on the outskirts of Manchester and told me why he would never abuse the trust and support of his fans.
"There's no airs and graces about me," he said in that flat Mancunian accent that makes him sound like Ashley in Coronation Street. "They know that. Although things are very different for me, I haven't changed a great deal. My feet are still on the floor. I don't doubt they love my fighting style, but they probably look at me as a mate. That's priceless. That's worth more than any money or any belt you could win."
It was easy to believe him. Everything Hatton said and did was dedicated to those fans. They were of the same blood and bone, the same culture of drinking, shagging and fighting, who sang and laughed together through thick and thin. They were Manc lads, even in winter short-sleeved lemon shirts hanging out over bellies softened by junk food and booze. Hatton so embraced the rituals of his culture that he drank in the New Inn in tough Hattersley, which his father once ran, and gorged on the Mega Fry-Up at the Butty Box in nearby Hyde. He would invite his mate Wayne Rooney, and girlfriend Coleen, to join him and his girlfriend Jennifer back at the house he called Heartbreak Hotel after his favourite singer, Elvis Presley, and they would wolf down takeaway pizzas.
Although he piled on 40 pounds between fights, it seemed an unaffected life, one he regarded as normal and grounded. But Hatton did not leave it there. His celebrity friends and childhood mates marvelled at his energy, and he loved it. He binged. On everything: drink, food, training ? and, ultimately, drugs.
Three years later, there is not much left of Hatton's career, either as a fighter or hero. As for the trust and support of his travelling army, it relies now on their ability to forgive him for not being Superman. He wanted to be both one of them and their warrior. He discovered the hard way he could not do it.
The Sun on Thursday showed Hatton partying with "violent drug dealer" Damien Ramsey at a Hatton show in Bristol two months before he was knocked out in his last fight, by Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, in May 2009. The paper quoted a "pal" of the dealer as saying Ramsey (jailed for five years that August) had known the fighter for "four or five years".
The same day, Greater Manchester Police said they wanted to talk to Hatton about the News of the World's claims last Sunday that he snorted cocaine in a Manchester hotel room. They will wait until he comes out of rehab for depression and addiction before questioning him.
He was, according to the Mirror, sent flying by a bodybuilder twice his size in the Railway Inn in Hyde after butting into a queue to get at a fruit machine. The British Boxing Board of Control's chairman, Charles Giles, said the board wanted to see Hatton "at the earliest opportunity". Frank Warren, his former promoter and now a business rival, said the board should take Hatton's licence away.
This was not the working-class northern fairytale that sustained Hatton's rise to winning world titles at two weights, the British fighter who virtually owned Las Vegas; this was a rolling nightmare with no predictable ending.
Hatton did value his fans at least as much as the glory, the big house and the box at Eastlands. No British sports star identified more with his roots than the happy Manc with the battered mug and the flying fists. But, in the end, Hatton became a prisoner of their adulation.
The Irish amateur woman boxer who passed images of him snorting cocaine in her hotel room to the News of the World maintained she did it to save Ricky from himself. Maybe. But she was right when she said he was slowly killing himself.
Hatton's core weakness was not his chin or waning skills, but his overwhelming urge to please his mates. He did not know when to stop. He would discover ? as Frank Bruno did before him ? that he would be reduced to headline fodder when exposed as a vulnerable human being, not a god. All of a sudden, he was a washed-up bum with a drug habit.
Ricky always thought the party would never end. He did not win that fight against Mayweather in 2007. He was knocked out in the 10th round yet, within seconds, the British fans who had crammed into the Grand Arena of the MGM launched into their mindless, harmless, tuneless anthem, Walking In A Hatton Wonderland. The fight was soon forgotten; what mattered was that they were on the bevy in Vegas with their hero, a fighter whose feet, like theirs, were no longer on the floor.
The following morning, Hatton talked to the British media, still drunk from an all-nighter with his mates. He could not stop talking. He kept going on about the referee not letting him fight, and he made light of being put on his backside by a great opponent. He was doing it as much to assure his fans as kid himself that he had not lost it.
A year later, we were back in Las Vegas to see Hatton fight Paulie Malignaggi. It was a fight he had to win to stay in the big picture, to keep the party going, and he looked OK stopping the New Yorker in the 11th round. But the signs of deterioration were growing, imperceptibly, for all but the blind and blind drunk to see.
Within a couple of hours of the fight, Hatton was celebrating his victory in an Irish bar across the road from the fight venue, the same MGM Grand. He belted down the Guinness with astonishing enthusiasm. Draped in the arms of his friends, he disappeared into the night for more alcohol and self-delusion.
The following morning, we spoke to him in his hotel suite. Again, he was hung over, but this time there was a frost between Hatton and Jennifer. It soon became apparent why: Ricky was not going home straight away ? he was off to Mexico with Liam and Noel Gallagher. She was going back to Manchester.
And then, in May last year, Hatton headed for Las Vegas one last time, for the same ring in which he had been beaten by Mayweather and given false hope by Malignaggi.
From the start, it did not go well. Hatton's trainer, Mayweather's father, Floyd Sr, rowed with the hired help, mainly his British understudy, Lee Beard. The camp was awful. They let the unbeaten Cuban light-middleweight Erislandy Lara ? bigger, younger and stronger than Hatton ? spar with their light-welterweight. Lara gave Hatton a hiding and was sacked ? yet a few days later, Hatton went through the motions of telling us his preparation was brilliant. "Tell my fans to put the house on me," he said.
In the moments before the fight, the mood in the dressing room was sombre. Hatton asked about Pacquiao. Did anyone know what he was doing in his dressing room? Did he look confident? Pacquiao was laughing and raring to go. Someone in the Hatton camp said later: "It just didn't feel good. It was as if we all knew something bad was going to happen."
That night Hatton suffered the most crushing loss of his career, shockingly knocked out by the little Filipino. Down twice in the first round, he walked on to a peach of a hook in the second and floated, eerily and unconscious, to the canvas, landing in a twitching heap as the current from Pacquiao's fist continued to run though him. Before the referee could even move towards him, Jennifer emitted a piercing scream that weirdly filled the void. Hatton was taken to hospital and many of us wondered if he would be coming back. Surely, at least, he has had enough of the business now.
Without fail in all his previous big fights in America, win or lose, Hatton had come to talk to the boxing writers the following day. Not this time. He had been released from hospital overnight but did not feel up to talking about his embarrassing and emphatic loss. Most, but not all, of us understood: his health was more important than a few quotes, was the general view. Later that day, however, Hatton appeared on Sky, sipping a lager beside the pool of the MGM Grand. He could not spare half an hour for the newspaper guys he had known and liked for more than a decade, but his new TV paymasters had access all areas. It was the first sign he was changing.
Hatton looked to be handling it. Yet his pride, sustained for so long by his loyal followers, and self-belief that sprang from his undoubted excellence as a fighter, were deeply bruised. He knew he could not fight again, but he could not say so. For a year, he needed to keep up the pretence for his public, hinting at regular intervals that he was just waiting to "scratch the itch". The party was not over until the fat man stopped singing.
Hatton escaped to Tenerife for a drinking holiday with his mates, letting slip he had had enough with boxing ? only to recant later. Some close friends thought he was milking it, keeping his name in the papers to help his new business as a promoter. His weight ballooned to 14 stone. He rowed with Jennifer at their home in Hyde, the police calling one night to still the shouting match in the street. Too many times to remember, she had found him passed out, drunk, on their driveway, left there by his pals after another bender.
Someone who had witnessed Hatton at full tilt on the booze recounts the experience: "I've seen him drink 20 pints, at least, usually Guinness, then wash it down with Bailey's Irish Cream or any other short that was handy, pass out, wake up, and do it all again, day after day."
Ricky and Jennifer went on holiday to Australia to patch things up and Ricky turned up at the tennis in Melbourne to cheer on Andy Murray. All seemed well. Murray, whose favourite sport is boxing, was clearly thrilled to see Hatton. It was mid-morning but Ricky had obviously been sampling the local beer. He told Murray he would be back for the final. He did not show, putting it out that Jennifer was ill and they had to return to Sydney.
When he came home, he went back to the gym briefly, even if it was mainly to get into shape for a charity football match. But the fire had gone, and Hatton knew it would never glow again. As one party drew to a close, another uglier one started, in hotel rooms and on the road, with rolled up �20 notes and little hills of white powder.
From Manchester to the bright lights, for 13 years of unbelievable thrills, Hatton had served his calling with an energy that left opponents and friends breathless, in the ring or in the bar. Yet, long before the applause began to fade, he refused to acknowledge what those around him could see and were reluctant to say: his unwillingness to curb his unhealthy eating between fights, his thirst for the drink and, latterly, his temptation into another phase of addiction were tearing a decent and sensitive man apart.
Hatton is one of several heroes to fall lately, through word or deed: Joe Calzaghe, another fighter firmly attached to his roots, was blinded by celebrity and seduced by the quick fix of cocaine; Hatton's sexually indiscriminate friend Rooney was caught out again with prostitutes; the loose-lipped David Haye let his promotional instincts get the better of him when he said his upcoming fight against Audley Harrison would be "as one-sided as gang rape".
But for Ricky Hatton it was a bit different. It was not just being caught out that hurt him; it was the dread that his family, friends and fans would see him no longer as a jolly representative of their clan but reduced to a fat, helpless shell, a slave to drugs. It turned out to be a chimera, but Hatton's regular vices were those perceived to be harmless in his culture: wild nights, boozing, pigging out. He could not make jokes about cocaine, though. Cocaine was not only illegal; it was the geezer's drug of choice, the currency of the underworld, showbiz and the media, and it wrecked something Ricky Hatton valued highly: his image.
Coke was an opponent every bit as slick and cunning as Mayweather or Pacquiao. It dressed him up, knocked him out. And he could not even hear the whirr of the video camera.
Giovanni Lorenzo Considered for Kelly Pavlik on Nov. 13
Filed under: WBA, WBC, WBO, Boxing Rumors, HBO, Top Rank Promotions
On Monday, Top Rank Promotions CEO, Bob Arum, told FanHouse that former WBC and WBO middleweight (160 pounds) champion Kelly Pavlik (pictured above, at left) would end his seven month ring absence on Nov. 13 at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium against "a good opponent."
On Tuesday, BoxingScene.com first reported that opponent to be 29-year-old Dominican Republican-born New York resident Giovanni Lorenzo (29-3, 21 knockouts), who is coming off of September's 12-round loss to WBA super world middleweight king Felix Sturm (34-2-1, 14 KOs) of Germany.
Citing Lorenzo's manager, Kurt Emhoff, BoxingScene.com reported that an offer has been made for Lorenzo to face Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) on the HBO pay-per-view under card of the WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) title bout between WBO welterweight (147 pounds) titlist Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) and Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs).
Everyone's a liar in Pacman-Mayweather discussion!
Boxing continues to spread good cheer to an already irate fan base. It wasn't bad enough that for a second time Top Rank, Golden Boy, Floyd Mayweather, HBO and Manny Pacquiao couldn't find a way to split up hundreds of millions of dollars, now they're fighting publicly through the media.
Bob Arum claimed last week that he negotiated most of the terms for a superfight with Mayweather manager Al Haymon using HBO sports president Ross Greenburg as the intermediary. Then Mayweather's adviser Leonard Ellerbe called Greenburg and Arum liars.
Greenburg finally responded Monday in an email to the Los Angeles Times:
"Fights like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao are significant because of these fighters' ability to connect with sports fans around the world.
"It's unfortunate that it won't happen in 2010.
"I had been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, carefully trying to put the fight together. Hopefully, someday this fight will happen. Sports fans deserve it."
Lance Pugmire from the L.A. Times tracked down Ellerbe for his reaction. He didn't back down from his claims that Greenburg is lying.
"Obviously, the parties making these statements need to understand what the term 'negotiation' really means. Calling to ask Floyd what he's thinking about doing is not a negotiation. How ... can you have a negotiation when the principal has made it clear he's not interested in doing anything at this time."
He also lobbed another bomb at Arum.
"I pay absolutely no attention to what Arum says," Ellerbe said. "He's just bitter because Floyd left him to become his own boss and has gone on to make $125 million since."
Ellerbe wonders why there's been confusion from the get-go.
"This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," Ellerbe said. "Floyd made it clear what his intentions were, after the fight ... and again in an interview last week. He's on vacation."
So why didn't Ellerbe, Mayweather or Haymon just make that clear weeks ago before the stupid deadline was set and we all followed the countdown?
Be honest, are you starting to lose interest? Frankly, the one truth being told here is that all the parties involved could give a rat's ass about you, the fan.