Bernard Hopkins has gotten testy and even violent at boxing press events before. BHop is an old-school fighter when it comes to selling a fight, he's admitted he'll go the extra distance to add some heat. This time it was different.
Hopkins wasn't under control and Pascal really got under his skin when he start screaming for the future Hall of Famer to take drug test to prove he's clean.
"He ambushed the whole press conference as far as talking about the fight. He was accusing me of my last fight that I shouldn't have been as good, as fast, as strong, and I competed," Hopkins told WFAN in New York. "Whatever he was thinking he was desperate and he started saying 'take a test, take a blood test, take this, take that.'"
Hopkins was really irked when Pascal tried to connect the dots between he and Shane Mosley.
"Then he started bringing up that I was a friend of Nazim Richardson, who has been my trainer for years, and Nazim Richardson trains Sugar Shane Mosley and we know Sugar Shane Mosley has been involved in things in the past. That has nothing to do with me. My career has been 23 years and that's the first time and the only time, that I heard some ridiculous allegations. But guess what? I told the people to stay focused and I told the media to stay focused because when a guy is scared and Pascal didn't want to fight this fight a second time. He was forced by the sanctioning bodies of the WBC."
Hopkins got physical when Pascal tried to put his arm around him (0:21 mark and then he threw a punch when Pascal threw his hand in the Philadelphian's direction.
Pascal defends his title against Hopkins at the Bell Centre in Montreal on May 21. The HBO-televised card also features Chad Dawson against Adrian Diaconu.
upcoming boxing matches upcoming professional boxing matches
For his own self-preservation, Floyd Mayweather may want to come running back to the boxing ring. Fighting Manny Pacquiao isn't a safe proposition, but at least the eight week training camp would keep Floyd away from Las Vegas-area security guards and bouncers.
Mayweather, who is already dealing with two security guard-related incidents, now has another one on his plate.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Floyd's latest legal tussle involves a Las Vegas bouncer:
[...] Mayweather and his companies are being sued by a bouncer at the Strip nightclub Drai's (Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon) after he was assaulted, the lawsuit said, by the boxer's bodyguard Jan. 2.
In a lawsuit filed last week in Clark County District Court, Clay Gerling alleged that an unknown bodyguard for Mayweather "maliciously assaulted and battered plaintiff, by grabbing the plaintiff, and choking him."
The Las Vegas Sun has more specifics:
The suit said Gerling was working as a security guard and had "carded," or asked for identification from Mayweather and others in his group when an unnamed Mayweather bodyguard grabbed and choked Gerling.
The suit says Gerling suffered injuries to his head and neck that may be permanent as well as "extreme and severe mental anguish."
Mayweather is now fighting a total of four battles around Las Vegas.
1. The boxer last week was charged in Las Vegas Justice Court with two misdemeanor harassment counts after an October confrontation with Southern Highlands security guards over parking issues.
Mayweather allegedly threatened the guards -- who patrol the boxer's upscale housing community -- after he noticed the citations, claiming, "My homies have guns. If you want me to call them, they'd come over here and take care of you."
This latest incident with his community security guards is on top of an assault charge he's facing.
2. Mayweather faces a misdemeanor battery charge in connection with a Nov. 15 incident involving another guard, Shayne Smith.
[...] A confrontation ensued, and the boxer was verbally abusive and jabbed his finger into Smith's cheek, resulting in redness and discoloration on the left side of Smith's face, police said. A bench trial in that case is set for Sept. 1.
The most serious charge Mayweather's facing is one involving the mother of his children.
3. Mayweather also faces a July 29 preliminary hearing on felony charges, including coercion, grand larceny and robbery, in connection with a Sept. 9 incident with his three children and their mother, Josie Harris. Mayweather is free on $31,000 bail in that case.
Top Rank Promotions and Bob Arum made it clear on Saturday that Mayweather isn't even in the discussion for a Pacquiao fight in 2011. TRP is targeting Juan Manuel Marquez or Timothy Bradley for a November fight in Las Vegas.
Boxing cognescenti have offered up Saturday's Brandon Rios-Urbano Antillon clash as the antithesis of this past Saturday's deeply disappointing heavyweight fight between champ Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye. It's not a bad offering, that's for sure. Rios and Antillon are two of the few boxers today who could be considered true pressure fighters, the kind of lightweights who want to get in your face and never stop punching you no matter what. No. Matter. What. Antillon was one half of the 2010 TQBR Fight of the Year, against Humberto Soto. Rios is one half of a leading 2011 Fight of the Year contender against Miguel Acosta.
Manny Pacquiao's put his second love to bed for a while. But rest assured "Pacman" will be singing as soon as his business in the ring is over.
Boxing's top draw appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show to sing and promote the release of his collaborative CD with Dan Hill. If you like variety this isn't the CD for you. If you like Manny a lot and the song "Sometimes When We Touch," you'd better hit Amazon.com quickly.
The Manila Bulletin reports for 9.99 you get:
The result of their team-up is a two-disc set containing seven versions of the song (including remixes and an instrumental), as well as a bonus DVD featuring the making of "Sometimes When We Touch"---which, notably, resulted in Dan's success as a recording artist. The album, also called "Sometimes When We Touch," has been made available on iTunes and amazon.com on April 28, the day of his "Kimmel" appearance.
Hill says Pacman has vocal skills.
"He's got a great voice. He's a very, very gifted guy. You could be a really good singer and still not have a good ear, meaning you may not be able to retain a melody if I sing it to you one time. I could sing Manny anything one time and he'll sing it back to me perfectly," Dan enthused in an interview posted on abs-cbnNEWS.com.
Last week's appearance was No. 4 on the Kimmel Show for Pacquiao. It's become part of his prefight routine.
"I think it's some kind of lucky because I always came here before my fight," said Manny, whose much-awaited bout with Shane Mosley takes place on May 7 in Las Vegas.
"I'm like a big fat rabbit's foot," quipped Jimmy.
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After 13 months away, Kelly Pavlik climbs back into the ring on Saturday night. He faces Alfons0 Lopez on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight.
If you're wondering where he's been, even Pavlik has a tough time talking about it. For that reason, the super middleweight's slaying of his alcohol problem should be handled with kid gloves.
The media takes on Pavlik's return and alcoholism this week unveiled a wide array of opinions.
The Mirror surprised us with this headline:
Kelly Pavlik has won his biggest fight - against alcohol
The Las Vegas Review-Journal went with the angle that Pavlik has seen the light:
'More mature' Pavlik emerges from rehab, pursues world title
A successful comeback makes for a great story, but only if the story is close to completion. Several writers nailed what may be the truth about Pavlik's true state heading into this weekend.
Both the RJ and the Mirror suggested it was Pavlik who finally realized it was time to go to rehab. That's not accurate.
The San Antonio News-Express said:
By the end of 2010, it took family intervention to persuade him to finally get help. He entered the Betty Ford Clinic for alcohol�rehabilitation.
And the Press-Telegram used Pavlik's hometown paper in Youngstown, Oh. to tell us what really happened:
According to Vindy.com, a family intervention involving Pavlik's parents and his wife, Samantha, ensued and he was back at Betty Ford.
Why is that important? Because Pavlik didn't think he had a problem back in November and several media members believe, that even after two stints in rehab, he still doesn't think he was a full-blown alcoholic.
Mark Staniforth from TheSportingLife.com noticed that Pavlik refused to say "alcoholic" during a prefight teleconference.
It remains to be seen whether Pavlik, by his own admission a party animal, has truly beaten his demons. During a conference call this week, he neglected to mention the 'A' word once. He implies his affliction was not so serious.
Some may scoff at that. Maybe words aren't that important. After all, Pavlik's actions should speak loudly. He hasn't had a drink since Nov. 2.
Robert Morales from the Long Beach Press-Telegram disagrees.
He's saying things that seem to indicate he's taking a harder look at his drinking problem this time, but he seems to have somewhat of a difficult time coming to grips with its enormity.
[...] Far be it from yours truly to decide what Pavlik should be thinking. But as a recovering alcoholic who's been off the bottle more than 20 years, one thing is for sure - any bit of denial is bad news for anyone with an alcohol addiction.
Morales was disturbed by Pavlik's answer when he was asked about having a moment of clarity back in October or early November.
"No, not at all," he said. "More or less what it was, just the route that it was going. It wasn't one experience or it wasn't a life threatening experience or anything like that. It was just the point where it came to, `Hey, it's got to stop.'
"It wasn't me getting roughed up or shooting somebody or robbing somebody to get alcohol or vice-versa; it wasn't that extreme. But it came to a point where it was like, `Let's get our head out of our (behind) and move on here."'
Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole thinks Pavlik's in denial and that some in his camp are enabling him.
Morales pointed out manager Cameron Dunkin, who suggested Pavlik mostly misses just hanging out with friends.
"I definitely think he understands he has a problem or he wouldn't be doing what he's doing," Dunkin said. "What he's saying is there are guys that get up in the morning and it just overtakes them. But he doesn't feel like that about alcohol."
"Does he miss going out with his buddies and watching the games (at the local spot)? Yes, that's when he misses alcohol. What Kelly is saying is, it's not like he gets up in the morning and says, `Man, I want a beer.' He knows he can't drink. He says, `I know it's going to ruin my life."'
His co-manager Mike Miller seems to get it a little more.
"He seems to have done a 180 (degree turn)," Miller said. "He's been taking his kids to the movies and to the park. He's being a great�dad.
"But being an alcoholic, the report card is a daily event. It's all about, 'Did I take a drink today?' You don't worry about�tomorrow."
It's hard to find anyone who's not rooting for Pavlik to beat this thing. He's a tremendous fighter and by most accounts, a good guy. Let's just hope Pavlik and his support system have the strength to deal with reality if it ever gets to a point where he's at rock bottom again.
You can watch the Pacquiao-Mosley pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports.
Shane Mosley's no rookie. The former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champ was involved in the 21st title fight of his career on Saturday against Manny Pacquiao, but even with 53 fights under his belt, "Sugar" Shane was shocked by what he felt in the third round.
Mosley said Pacman's punch was as hard as any shot he's ever felt as a pro. That was just the third time Mosley was on the deck.
Keep in mind, Mosley has been in there with several guys who walked into the ring around 170 pounds on the night of their respective fight including Ricardo Mayorga, Antonio Margarito, Fernando Vargas, Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. It was 149-pound Pacquiao who hit him the hardest.
Mosley said it threw him off the rest of the way. If he'd opened up, Mosley felt like he was walking into a trap. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said he was disappointed in Mosley's approach and thinks it's time Sugar Shane walks away.
"I don't think he tried to win the fight. I think he just tried to survive," Roach said during the postfight press conference. "When you get to that point in boxing, it's time to call it a day."
? Many missed fight due to 'issue' with new bookings system
? Replays to be shown free on Sunday
Sky has apologised to customers after its coverage of David Haye's fight with Wladimir Klitschko was hit by technical problems.
The broadcaster said it had an "issue" with new telephone and online bookings for Saturday night's world heavyweight unification bout due to "unprecedented demand".
The glitch meant many sport fans were unable to order the �14.95 pay-per-view fight.
During the contest, which saw England's Haye lose in Hamburg on points, Sky's Twitter feed urged those experiencing problems to "please find your nearest pub".
A statement posted on Sky's website following the fight said: "We are sorry to have disappointed any viewers who were unable to order Haye v Klitschko. Sky had an issue during the evening with new telephone and online bookings for the fight.
"We had encouraged early booking over three weeks leading up to the fight. However we experienced unprecedented demand on the night and whilst early telephone and online purchases worked, there were issues with late bookings through these routes on Saturday."
Sky said free replays of the fight will now be available to all customers at 9am, 1pm and 7pm today.
Juan Manuel Lopez showed some major holes in losing to Orlando Salido via eighth round TKO on Saturday night.
For an unbeaten champ, he's always been easy to hit and has even gone down on occasion, but it was shocking to see Orlando Salido find a home for both his overhand right and left hook so often.
Did he unveil "JuanMa" as an overrated fighter with a shaky chin or was Jim Gray onto something? Gray, the Showtime reporter, asked JuanMa about his marital issues before and after the fight. The former unbeaten champ shrugged off his impending split with wife Barbara de Jesus, but his promoter Bob Arum wasn't willing to.
"The distractions did the job. Look at Miguel Cotto, who has never been better since he left to train outside of Puerto Rico. And he doesn't get out of shape between fights," Arum said.
The veteran promoter said Lopez (30-1, 27 KOs) was massive between this fight and his last win in November over Rafael Marquez.
"That's what happened to this guy?.he was overweight. He was like 180 or 190 pounds when he was in the Philippines [for Manny Pacquiao's birthday party in December]. And I know that personal problems affected this boy," Arum said. "Boxing is a serious business and you have to be in great physical condition between fights, you have to have the best life between fights, and when you have training camp for a fight, like Cotto, you should leave the island."
The loss could be good news for boxing fans. Before the fight, JuanMa was talking about leaving the 126-pound division. Now he's got too much work to get done before a jump to 130.
He needs to avenge this loss and then make a superfight against Yuriorkis Gamboa. That could turn into a two or three fight series. If he smokes Gamboa, then it's time for Nonito Donaire. Any way you look at it, the top of the featherweight class should give us tremendous fights for the next few years unless promotional chaos screws it up.
Amazingly, even after getting destroyed by Salido, Lopez says he's sticking with the plan to leave the division.
Mike Tyson is watching Charlie Sheen's roller coaster ride from afar, but he feels like he can relate to what the wayward actor is going through.
Joining the fellas at ESPN1100 in Las Vegas this week (video - NSFW), Tyson was asked about Sheen, his drug tests and recent behavior (2:03 mark).
"I don't know what's happening to Charlie.� If he's passing the tests everyone's giving him. He is acting a little bit strange, I like to be on the show too, but I believe that's my dark side thing.� We're going to get it together Charlie. I don't know where he's at. But this is where I've been, I don't know if he's there ? I've been a damn fool, I've been on drugs and embarrassed myself and other people too of course, and I thought I was awesome," Tyson said. "That's where I've been, so I don't know. I've been in places where I wish I could move under a rock and not look at myself no more. So I don't know, but Charlie doesn't seem to feel that way yet."
Sheen says he's clean and passed all his drug tests.��
Again, I don't know what Charlie's going to do. If he says he passed the tests, I'm great at tricking those tests when I was on drugs. I don't know if Charlie's doing that, but this is something I'm great at ? lying to myself," Tyson said. "But if he says he's passed the tests then I believe him 100 percent. But then we're dealing with a personality problem. I don't know. I just wish him the best of luck with everything."
Tyson hit rock bottom so many times, he lost count. Even early in his boxing career when his was on top of his game, Tyson's behavior away from the ring was risky. Entering the biggest fight of his life, his first title shot at 20 years old against Trevor Berbick, he was distracted (3:33 mark).
"Of course, I had VD. Of course I was embarrassed to tell anybody you know?� Well, I told my trainer Kevin Rooney, but I didn't understand, I'm just a 20-year-old sap. I'm thinking this is postponement because I'm sleeping with some tramp. I've got to tell you a story about that stuff, this is so crazy. So we went to the fight, I won and I was so excited to get out of there because I'm dripping with sweat like a [inaudible] in July," Tyson on that 1986 fight. "So I can't wait to get out of the ring. So that was over. But I had to persevere because this was my life, this championship was what I dreamt of all my life and I wasn't going to be denied."
Tyson says he was still a mess as recent as 2008, when he was using drugs heavily. He's shocked that he found a woman, who'd marry him in that state.
"When my wife married me, I was OD'ing every day. I was a mess. I didn't deserve a prostitute with full-blown AIDS. I could have gotten one, but I didn't deserve her. She was slummin' if she was with me at that stage," Tyson said of his current wife Lakiha . "We're putting it together. We're putting our foundation together one brick at a time, and it seems to be going well. We had to get reacquainted. We're started to get reacquainted now that we're married."
Tyson was in the ESPN1100 studios for an hour along with fellow boxer Zab Judah. The conversation was fascinating. Kudos to the interviewers @paulyhoward and @seatwilliams. Williams pushed the sports' angles well� and Howard was fearless in getting Tyson to open up like they were chums hanging at a bar.
Thanks to SportsRadioInterviews.com for transcribing the interview.
Chad Dawson's changed a lot in his life, but he never lost the basic boxing skills that put him on the boxing pound-for-pound list for much of 2008, 2009 and 2010. The young light heavyweight, a bit forgotten by some boxing fans, cruised to a win over Adrian Diaconu via unanimous decision 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112, tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The victory for Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs) should get him a shot at his old WBC 175-pound title. Bernard Hopkins challenges the champ Jean Pascal in tonight's main event in Canada. In the prefight, Hopkins said that if won the title, Dawson would be next. The same goes for Pascal.
Under the tutelage of new trainer Emmanuel Stewart, Dawson threw his punches with more conviction, but still seemed to be unwilling to really pour it on against Diaconu, who was a bit outclassed.
Dawson, 28, outlanded Diaconu 240 to 105. He pummeled the Romanian with 157 power shots, landing at a 59 percent clip. By the end of the fight, Diaconu (27-3, 15 KOs) had significant bruising around his left with a cut below the eye on the cheek. He had redness around his right eye as well.
Dawson lost the title last summer against Pascal. The Haitian living in Canada was ahead on the scorecards in the 11th when a headbutt busted open a huge cut over Dawson's eye, forced a stoppage. Pascal won the belt via technical decision.
Boxing's pound-for-pound champ is tough as nails in the ring, but he wilted in the toughest arena in the world -- the Internet.
Congressman Manny Pacquiao's affair with social media was a short one. After dealing with a fake account that sprouted up in January, "Pac-Man" decided to try Twitter with a real account in late February.
Pacquiao quickly found out there's no buffer on Twitter. His� problems began a few days ago as he watched a Filipino Congressional impeachment hearing from afar. Training for his fight with Shane Mosley in May, Pacquiao tried to ease concerns about his absence from Congress during the major vote. From GMA News:
"I vote NO! and I can give my explanation thanks," he [tweeted] emphatically just a few minutes before midnight [on Mar. 21].
That unleashed a hail of criticism from followers, who wondered why Pacquiao wasn't fulfulling his political duties.
"to hell with @congmp. Why the [expletive] did you run for congress when you know you'd barely be present?" said @RAndRat.
According to GMA News, Pacquiao responded with a personal shot�at one tweeter who asked, "Why are you not at the plenary?"
Pacquiao shot back: "@momblogger e di mag reklamo ka doon sa lolo mo hahahaha thanks" (Go tell it to your grandpa!)
More than a few angry Filipinos fired back:
"he shouldn't tweet that way. he is, after all, a billionaire congressman," said @emvisi.
"You may be trying to folksy and humorous, @CongMP, but the matter at hand is too serious to be flippant about," opined @jesterinexile. "because @CongMP is absent, saranggani province has no say in a national issue. that is irresponsible beyond belief," he added.
Pacquiao decided he'd had enough of the people and their unfiltered access. GMA News says @congmp was deleted at 4:20 p.m. on March 23.
Fight fans might be a little surprised to see someone other than Jim Lampley and the rest of the HBO crew on the call for Manny Pacquiao versus Shane Mosley this Saturday night. Strained relations with the boxing pay-per-view giant and interest from network television convinced Bob Arum and Todd DuBoef to take Pacquiao, their No. 1 product elsewhere.
"The currency was the audience, not the dollars," DuBoef, the president of Top Rank, told Sports Business Journal. "How do I make my product more available? You layer in things and then you see: This is what we have; this is what we could have."
Top Rank pitched Pacquaio to ESPN and HBO, then Showtime came calling.
DuBoef said he heard nothing of note from ESPN and little from HBO that he hadn't heard before. But from Showtime, often seen as the underdog tugging at HBO's hem, came word that CBS was willing to talk. The deal that emerged is unlike anything boxing has seen.
Boxing has been crushed by the lack of network TV exposure over the last 30 years. Top Rank jumped at the chance to be on local CBS TV affiliates and hundreds of local CBS radio stations around the country.
For the Showtime-produced "Fight Camp 360" show that profiles both fighters, CBS offered a slot as a prime-time special, which aired this past Saturday night, along with a half hour on the afternoon of the Final Four and an hour this Saturday afternoon, ahead of fight night. It offered promotion on other weekend sports programming. It offered exposure well beyond the bounds of sports: Segments on "Entertainment Tonight," which CBS distributes, and on "The Early Show" and others. It pledged to push out features to both owned and operated stations and affiliates. It tapped into CBS Radio and CBS Outdoor.
Seth Abraham, the former head of HBO sports sees trouble on the horizon for the pay network if Pacquiao-Mosley does a huge PPV number with Showtime.
"I think this is the most important fight, out of the ring, in 20 years," said Abraham, who served as president of HBO Sports until 2000, then worked as chief operating officer and president of Madison Square Garden through 2003. "There could be enormous consequences.
"If the pay-per-view rate is meteorically higher, you have to assume it had a lot to do with the promotion on CBS. So if CBS really impacts the buy rate for Top Rank, if the delayed broadcast on Showtime is a big success, I think what you're going to see is that NBC/Versus will pay more attention, ABC/ESPN will pay more attention, and Fox and FX and their regional networks will pay more attention. If CBS and Showtime are successful for Top Rank, then I see a completely different boxing landscape that HBO will be facing. It'll be a real slugfest for every important fight."
That's great news for fight fans. The sport deserves more exposure and more good scraps. If multiple networks are clamoring for boxing, then we'll get a premium put on matchmaking and let's get crazy, maybe we'll even get some high level boxing where we don't have to shell out $12-65.
You can watch the Pacquiao-Mosley pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports.
