Roy Jones Jr suffers brutal knockout against Denis Lebedev

? 42-year-old loses consciousness for over a minute
? American will not confirm if he will retire after defeat

There were fears for the health of Roy Jones Jr after the 42-year-old was knocked out cold by Russia's Denis Lebedev in the 10th and final round of their light-heavyweight non-title bout in Moscow.

With only seconds remaining before the final bell on Saturday, Lebedev caught Jones with a flurry of punches to send the American to the canvas. Jones, who has won eight world titles in four weight classes ranging from middleweight to heavyweight, lost consciousness for more than a minute and needed help to get back on his feet when he eventually came round.

Lebedev, 31, improved his record to 22 wins with 17 knockouts and one defeat, which was suffered against the German Marco Huck in his previous fight for the WBO cruiserweight title in December. "I was prepared for a long fight," said Lebedev, who was trained for this fight by the former undisputed welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu.

"I knew it would be a tough fight because Roy is a legend. People, who had said it would be easy, just don't know anything about boxing."

Jones would not say if he was ready to retire after losing for the seventh time in his last 12 fights. "It was a great fight. I love Moscow and hope to come back here again," he said. "Denis is a good fighter but I think overall, it was a close fight. I just lost concentration near the end and didn't see his punch coming."

The American began the fight at Moscow's Krylatskoye arena in his usual showboating style, dropping his hands and challenging Lebedev to hit him. The Russian southpaw first connected with a straight left near the end of round four, then dominated the majority of the later rounds, forcing his opponent against the ropes.

Jones briefly countered with a right-left combination in the ninth but ran out of steam in the final round. Lebedev, known for his devastating left hook, waited for his opponent to tire before unleashing a flurry of punches that knocked out Jones with about 12 seconds remaining.

• Boxing

Gregg Roughley

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Roy Jones Jr suffers brutal knockout against Denis Lebedev

? 42-year-old loses consciousness for over a minute
? American will not confirm if he will retire after defeat

There were fears for the health of Roy Jones Jr after the 42-year-old was knocked out cold by Russia's Denis Lebedev in the 10th and final round of their light-heavyweight non-title bout in Moscow.

With only seconds remaining before the final bell on Saturday, Lebedev caught Jones with a flurry of punches to send the American to the canvas. Jones, who has won eight world titles in four weight classes ranging from middleweight to heavyweight, lost consciousness for more than a minute and needed help to get back on his feet when he eventually came round.

Lebedev, 31, improved his record to 22 wins with 17 knockouts and one defeat, which was suffered against the German Marco Huck in his previous fight for the WBO cruiserweight title in December. "I was prepared for a long fight," said Lebedev, who was trained for this fight by the former undisputed welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu.

"I knew it would be a tough fight because Roy is a legend. People, who had said it would be easy, just don't know anything about boxing."

Jones would not say if he was ready to retire after losing for the seventh time in his last 12 fights. "It was a great fight. I love Moscow and hope to come back here again," he said. "Denis is a good fighter but I think overall, it was a close fight. I just lost concentration near the end and didn't see his punch coming."

The American began the fight at Moscow's Krylatskoye arena in his usual showboating style, dropping his hands and challenging Lebedev to hit him. The Russian southpaw first connected with a straight left near the end of round four, then dominated the majority of the later rounds, forcing his opponent against the ropes.

Jones briefly countered with a right-left combination in the ninth but ran out of steam in the final round. Lebedev, known for his devastating left hook, waited for his opponent to tire before unleashing a flurry of punches that knocked out Jones with about 12 seconds remaining.

• Boxing

Gregg Roughley

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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Pavlik gets the job done in comeback fight

LAS VEGAS _ All week long Kelly Pavlik was asked about his return from a battle against alcoholism, but the fighter kept saying don't sleep on his opponent. He was right. Alfonso Lopez, with only 21 pro fights under his belt, gave the former middleweight champ a damn good fight. Pavlik came on late and finish with a great tenth round to take a majority decision, 99-91, 98-92 and 95-95, in an undercard fight on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Yahoo! Sports' lead boxing writer Kevin Iole scored it 98-92 and I had it 97-93.

Lopez (21-1) actually outlanded Pavlik 180-168. But it was the Youngstown-native who landed the heavier shots as the fight went along. He sent a message in the final round by landing a ton of left hooks. Lopez came out aggressively in the final round, but was stopped in his track with 1:50 left in the fight. His offense stopped as he began to back up. Pavlik (37-2, 30 KOs) couldn't finish Lopez in the final minute, but he looked like he could've gone down at any moment.

Pavlik, the former WBO and WBC middleweight champ went to rehab for issues with alcohol twice in late 2010 and early 2011.

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Ray Lewis says he’d beat his teammate Tom Zbikowski in the boxing ring

With the NFL in labor lockdown, Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski has shown some stones by entering the world of professional boxing and winning two fights with relative ease. His teammate Ray Lewis isn't impressed. The veteran NFL linebacker was asked how he would fare against Zbikowski in a boxing match.

"Zbikowski would lose," Lewis said as a guest on NFL Network. "We've already talked about that. Zbikowski is a realist when it comes to the sport. The locker room talk is always that about who can beat who. He'll be the first to tell you he's not going to get in the ring with a 250-pound person. That's crazy!"

That's big talk from a guy who'd be facing a 25-year-old with a lengthy amateur boxing background. And it sounds like Zbikowski missed out on that talk. Tommy Z told Dan Patrick last month that he'd beat anyone in the NFL (5:00 mark), including his teammate Lewis.

"I'd be nervous [facing the 250-pound Ray Lewis]," Zbikowski said. "But there's a lot more than having power and being a scary fella. I signed up for this. There's not gonna be much that's gonna scare me."

The 195-pound Zbikowski is confident in his skills and knowledge of the sweet science. He said if he sticks with boxing full-time, he could be a cruiserweight world champion in two years. He also said that he could teach an athlete like his teammate Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (6-foot-4, 350) the skills necessary to be a heavyweight champion in a year (2:25 mark).

Zbikowski is reaching on both counts in saying he and his teammate would win world titles in less than two years, but he's probably correct about his ability to tear up Lewis even giving away 50-plus pounds.

Assuming Lewis would be willing to go through the customary eight-week training camp to get in shape, there's still no way he'd survive against a guy with 90 amateur fights, who was a legitimate contender to compete for a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team. It's pretty easy for Lewis to talk tough when he knows he'll never actually step into the ring.

Zbikowski's next fight is scheduled in less than two weeks against Blake Warner in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Tip via Pro Football Talk

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Filipinos and boxing fans go wild as Pacquiao arrives in Vegas

Fight week is officially underway in Las Vegas with Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley making their ceremonial entrances at the MGM Grand on Tuesday. Hundreds of fans crowded the hotel's lobby to get a glimpse of the fighters.

Bob Arum, who's brought Pacman back to Sin City after two fights in Dallas, said big fights belong in what some people call the Fight Capital of the World.

[Order Pacquiao-Mosley fight]

The turn was impressive but it was a bit one-sided. See if you can find the lone Mosley fan in the photo below.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Fans rush to get Pacquiao's song release
? Tony Romo's swanky wedding plans revealed
? Stunning physical transformations of recruits to NFL picks

You can watch the Pacquiao-Mosley pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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The Weekend's Boxing Schedule, Featuring Chris Arreola, Jorge Linares And Not Much More

It's a short weekend of boxing for a long weekend of Memorializing.

The above is not an "Oscar De La Hoya's in rehab" joke, by the way. I'm not above making cruel jokes, mind you. But I saw the video over the past weekend and didn't get a chance to link to it; it's totally mesmerizing in a bizarre way. It's ironic that shortly thereafter, De La Hoya was in rehab, but again, not making a joke about it.

To the fights:

• Chris Arreola vs. Kendrick Releford/Tony Thompson vs. Maurice Harris, Friday, ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes, Reno Nev. An all-heavyweight show. Arreola is fighting just a few weeks after his last bout, and once more is in shape, and always is good television. That's the good news. The bad news is that Releford is a pretty shoddy opponent, having lost to far less capable men than Arreola has beaten. You'd think with Arreola's connections to the all-powerful (in Imaginationland) Al Haymon, he'd not have four fights off HBO, right? Anyway, it's the right move for Arreola to be staying busy -- you just kind of wish he'd be in against better opposition for a Friday Night Fights headliner, is all. Thompson-Harris is the far more interesting fight of the two. I previewed that bout here, after interviewing Thompson.
• Jorge Linares vs. Francisco Cordero, Saturday, AT&T U-verse, Mazatlan Mexico. I'm so very pro-Linares. Now fighting at lightweight, Linares is three fights removed from that upset knockout loss and I'm not sure why he isn't being spotlighted or pushed into better fights than this for his fourth-removed. Two bouts ago, Cordero got stopped by Jorge Solis in a bid for an interim junior lightweight strap and hasn't faced much top competition besides. I'll be watching just because I'm pro-Linares, and because this AT&T feed is gorgeous. All other fight-streamers should imitate it. Flyweight prospect Pedro Guevara actually headlines the card, by the way.
• Omar Chavez vs. Genaro Trazancos, Saturday, Fox Deportes/Fox Sports Net, Mexicali Mexico. This is one of those sons of Julio Cesar Chavez. Omar's not as far along as Jr., and I haven't seen as much of him. Trazancos has been in there with a million prospects, all losses, and even was one of Edwin Valero's victims back when he was at junior lightweight. This fight is at junior middleweight, so it shouldn't be much of a contest, but I bet Omar goes as slow as Jr., since he doesn't have an amateur background just like his brother.
• The Rest. Bantamweight Jamie McDonnell fights in England, and that's about it.

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Khan and Ortiz win, the line grows for ‘Pac-Man’ and Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather has been sidelined nearly 12 months and Manny Pacquiao is facing a fighter in Shane Mosley, who appears to be out of the mix to challenge for a 147-pound title. It's got to be frustrating for boxing fans, especially with so many worthy young challengers for boxing's pound-for-pound best floating around 140 and 147 pounds. More fighters stepped forward this weekend.

Amir Khan, 25, improved his standing by downing Paul McCloskey via six round technical decision. Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto also added their names to the list.

That's right, Berto (27-1) lost but made himself a very attractive fighter by first taking the Ortiz fight then standing and banging with "Vicious" Victor for 12 rounds. Ortiz (29-2-2, 20 KOs) finally delivered on the promise both Top Rank Promotions, and his current promoter Golden Boy had for him when they touted the Mexican-American as the next Oscar de La Hoya.

Ortiz put a beating on Berto, knocking him down two times and outlanding the formerly unbeaten Haitian 281-147. He also went for the kill throughout landing 266 power shots. That's been a problem in the past for Ortiz, who's taken his foot off the gas pedal in several fight. He stood in the pocket, ate some huge shots from Berto, went down twice, but never wilted.

An unusually nice kid for a boxer, Ortiz is tiring of the Marcos Maidana questions.

"Should I come down there and smack you with this green belt? I'm totally messing with you," joked Ortiz.

The 24-year-old lost via TKO against Maidana in 2009. Seconds after the loss, he questioned his future in the sport.

"That was my past, it was a learning experience. I took it for what it was worth. I went to war. People say I gave up. I didn't give up," Ortiz said. "The fight was stopped on my behalf. Life goes on and I woke up to another day, and check it out (lifting his new WBC welterweight championship belt)."

Ortiz will always hear about that loss. After this win over Berto, he was playing a new tune.

"Maidana was never in my class. I never gave him respect, especially for not giving me a rematch. 147 lbs. is where I'm king. I want to thank Andre Berto for the opportunity. He is a real champion," said Ortiz.

In the ring, Berto said he wasn't right for the fight. There were points during the match, that he looked like he hadn't trained properly for the fight. Lou DiBella, his promoter, hinted at some injury issues as well.

"He proved himself to be a great young champion and he has the heart of a lion. There is a possible break in his third metacarpal bone in his right hand and he has bruising behind his head and a possible concussion, so he's on the way to the hospital getting checked out."

Both DiBella and Golden Boy's Richard Schafer indicated they'd look at a rematch.

Since it appears Pacquiao and Mayweather will avoid each forever how about stepping in the ring with some of these guys?

1. Amir Khan

2. Marcos Maidana

3. Juan Manuel Marquez

4. Victor Ortiz

5. Andre Berto

6. Timothy Bradley

7. Devon Alexander

8. Lamont Peterson

Quotes via Fight News

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