Well, after and extended layoff (new job) I am back and have a lot to talk about.  I am going to cover a few things right off the bat:
1)  Prayers go out to Paul Williams, always came to fight and seemed like one of the good guys in the sport.
2) Sergio Martinez is the best boxer in the world that no one knows about.
3) Duane Ford is an idiot.
4) Ortiz deserved that "cheapshot" Mayweather hit him with.
5) Cotto came to fight, but was just outgunned.
6) Timothy Bradley is the luckiest boxer this year so far.
7) Heavies are still boring
8) Good to see Kelly Pavlik making the best of his comeback
9) JCC Jr. is still a joke
10) Lebron won his title in a shortened season so it does not count. 

So whats the good word?  Well we have a potential action packed bout coming up between Canelo Alvarez(WBC Champ) and Victor Ortiz.  Alvarez is my pick for a winner here.  We have all seen Ortiz quit before when he is in there with a real banger, so I dont see why he wouldn't do it again.  Canelo all the way in this one. 

Wlad Klitschko is fighting Tony Thompson...again...(crickets)

Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr. will be tangling with Sergio Martinez September 15th for JCC Jr's WBC Middleweight Ttitle.  This one is going to be good.  Martinez has wanted Junior for a while, and Junior is still untested at the elite level.  Either Junior channels his old mans grit and ability, or Martinez slices and dices him like he did with Pavlik.  I say we will see a fine display of slicing and dicing. 

In another VERY intriguing matchup in September (which is packed with great fights, Ortiz v. Canelo, Martinez v. JCC Jr) Andre Ward, reigning Super Middleweight Champion(WBA, WBC), will be putting his title on the line as current Light Heavy Weight Champion Chad Dawson will be coming down in weight.  I feel that Ward being at his natural weight and his speed will be the ultimate factor here.

The Curious Case of Wladimir Klitschko

This weekend, July 2nd, we will finally have a Heaveyweight bout of serious significance and hype surrounding it. Universally recognized #1 IBF, WBO, IBO, Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion, Wladimir Klitschko, will take on WBA Champion David Haye in a major unification bout. This fight has ALL of the ingredients to be an explosive affair. There is a genuine dislike between these 2 men, ever since Haye showed up to a press conference wearing a t-shirt depicting him holding the severed heads of both Wladimir and Vitali Klitshcko. This act rubbed the Brothers Klitschko in all the wrong ways, and they have made it a mission to shut up the big mouthed Brit once and for all.
Wladimir himself is a curious case though, some hold him in high regard with the greatest of all time, others say he would be nothing but a journeyman in boxing's glory days. Granted, the heavyweight landscape is not full of Ali's, Foreman's, Holmes's, or Marciano's right now, but the way in which Wlad and his older brother have dominated the division cannot be looked past. Wlad himself even admits that he is not the cold blooded pugilist his brother is. In a statement to Freddie Roach, when Roach told him "You are an amazing athlete", Wlad responded with "Yes, but I wish I was an amazing fighter." But for not being an "amazing fighter" he has been able to compile a record of 53-3 during his career.
This statement by Klitschko was never more evident to me than during his KO loss to Corrie Sanders back in 2003, and his loss to Lamon Brewster in 2004. The going got tough, and early, for the 6'6'' Ukrainian against Sanders. Sanders knew his best shot to beat, the then more robotic Olympic Champion, was to come out firing, and come out quick. Which is exactly what he did. Down once in the 1st round, and twice in the 2nd, Klitschko had an unforgettable look of confusion on his face during this aggressive onslaught, that put major doubt into the minds of many about him. He then rattled off a pair of confidence boosters and lost again to the hard punching Lamon Brewster. This fight was an oddity in itself, with speculations of food poisoning prior to the fight. Wlad came out in the 5th round mouth open, hands down, totally exhausted already, which made no sense for a fighter of such good fitness. He was then labeled a glass jawed fraud by the public and media.
Since the defeat to Brewster Wlad has revenged that loss and rattled off 13 straight victories(including wins over Chris Byrd, undefeated Calvin Brock, Ruslan Chagaev, and former champ Hasim Rahman), under the tutelage of world renowned and Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward. The mos impressive in my opinion was when he erased all of those previous demons against big punching Samuel Peter in historic Boardwalk Hall. The Nigerian Nightmare had Wlad in some serious trouble, dropping him 3 times in the fight, but Wlad pulled himself off the canvas to put on a boxing clinic and rocked Peter a few times on his own, and walk away with a decision.
I believe that fight spoke volumes about his desire to be champion again, and also was a testament to what an amazing coach Steward is (who excels with coaching long rangy fighters such as Lennox Lewis, and Tommy Hearns). Now Wlad systematically takes his opponents apart, dissecting them with his jab, and once they close the gap, he pops them with straight rights and "45" rights. It is a formula that works, and works well, of his 53 wins 49 of them are by KO or TKO.
It is a curious case that a man, who admittedly says he is not a fighter, has had 2 crushing KO losses to lesser competition, is somehow still labeled glass jawed, overrated, too safe, and boring; all the while became the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

David Haye has the power, he the has speed, he has the youth, and the attitude to make it interesting. But in my opinion when the smoke has cleared Saturday, David Haye will have a new name, "#50".

Haters Gonna Hate

People love to hate a winner. It is why people hate the Dallas Cowboys, or the L.A. Lakers, or New York Yankees. They are perpetual winners who, chances are, beat your favorite team more than once. This happens a lot in boxing as well. People currently hate on Mayweather, The Klitschko Brothers, Manny Pacquiao, and Sergio Martinez. I just find it hard to hate on these fighters like most try to do. Mayweather is the only one of the mentioned fighters who you could say brings the hate upon himself. He is very brash, and quite a bit of a showoff outside of the ring. He flaunts money, yet owes millions in back taxes...if i did that I'd be in jail.
It it inexplicable to me why people would not like the Klitchsko Brothers. They are excellent fighters, who would have held their own against any era of heavyweights, they are athletic, both doctors, great punchers and boxers, fluent in multiple languages, and respectful towards opponents. Not to mention a combined KO ratio of 86.56%, which is ridiculous. They have dominated the division and avenged all losses they have suffered in rematches. Truly great champions.
Manny Pacquiao I do not have to explain why should not hate on him, EXCEPT that the fight between him and Mayweather is yet to be made. I blame both parties.

This brings me to Sergio Martinez. A lot of folks have really been hating on Maravilla lately and I think it is unjustified. Sergio was over looked for years and finally got recognition when Lou DiBella signed to promote him. His skills and power are up there with anyone the game today. Fighting mostly in Argentina to start his career and on smaller cards in the U.S., he was not being taken seriously by the big names. Two years ago he fought to a highly controversial draw against Kermit Cintron. I watched this fight only, even though my girlfriend at the time greatly protested at the time, and Sergio actually won the fight by KO, but the referee made and awful error. He then stepped in to fight Paul Williams in the Fight of the Year in A.C. and really showed he could bang. Flooring Williams in the 1st and lacing him numerous other times in the fight. Sergio also was knocked down and took some shots, but I had him winning the fight. The judges on the other hand ruled a majority decision toward Williams. Sergio then stepped in against big punching Middleweight Kelly Pavlik. This fight I attended and must say Martinez was fabulous. They credited Pavlik with a KD that was more of a "tap and trip" that hurt Sergio on points. Still Martinez came out the victor.
Following his title win against Pavlik, he laced them up again with Williams, but this time the judges were not even needed. Martinez caught "The Punisher" with a ferocious straight left that sent Williams crashing, unconscious, to the canvas.
I also forgot to mention that every one of these opponents was the bigger, harder puncher going into the fight.
Moral of the story is don't hate on guys for being good.

Review

Post fight weekend reactions have been mixed, and my predictions were 50/50, but here is a review of how I saw this weekend unfold.

The Hang Em Up Award: This goes to Shane Mosley. He came in in a great shape, talked constantly about how well he does with "come forward type fighters", and even was quoted saying "I love a good scrap"...well Shane you fooled me. Pacquiao came forward as expected, Shane ran away as unexpected, and certainly wanted no part of the "good scrap" that could have taken place. After Pac-Man rung his bell in the 3rd Round Sugar was anything but sweet. It seemed as though all he wanted to do was run, and touch gloves for 12 rounds as if it were a sparring session. Even the normally respectful Pacquiao had enough of the antics come the 10th round, when the boo's came from the crowd due to lack of action. He implored Mosley to fight by waving him in with his gloves, and giving him a "let's entertain them" type look. Mosley wanted no part of the Filipino dynamo, who fought past the 4th round with and injured left leg, and decide to survive instead of fight. To grade the performance from Manny I would give it a B at the best, but some of that has to do with his opponents decision to not fight, even though he was in a fight.

Fight of the Night: Easily Jorge Arce's upset KO of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. was the fight of the night. Both men were hurt, both men were down, and both men fought like true warriors in the ring. This was an entertaining battle from start to finish, with Arce pulling off the upset and reclaiming a stake of the title. Excellent fight that had me on the edge of my seat.

Sobriety Award: Kelly Pavlik made his return to the ring Saturday night. Though he did not take out Lopez they way I expected him too, I can understand why. After a year of no fighting, and a few months with Betty Ford, it is totally understandable that "The Ghost" would be showing a great deal of ring rust. In the first few rounds it was quite obvious. His timing was off, and seemed to be getting hit a little too much. After that though, he started to find his range and connect of constant left hooks, rocking Lopez on many occasions. In the final rounds he closed the show by pressuring Lopez, and hurting him multiple times with left hooks, and straight rights. The only thing that bothered me was that when Kelly would back Lopez into a corner with the jab, he would not attack. This was the only major sign I saw that I'd be worried about if I were his trainer. If the Kelly Pavlik of 2.5 years ago had Lopez stuck in a corner the amount of times he had him Saturday, there is no way that fight would have made the final bell.

Fight Weekend

The Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley fight is now upon us, and roughly 36 hours away, so we will be going over final predictions for the main event and undercard brawls. The under card features, whats looks to be on paper, some action packed fights. Overall I think it would be a very good card to purchase.

The card is filled with knockout artists. Bob Arum did a good job of matching up fighters who bring the fireworks to each fight and are exciting. In the first undercard bout we have Mike Alvarado (29-0 21ko) taking on Ray Narh (25-1 21ko). This fight will provide some fireworks early and often. Alvarado is a highly thought of contender trying to put a face with a name tomorrow night in Vegas and on PPV. Narh, out of Ghana, is also a very tough customer. He possesses power in both hands, and is no push over. Expect this one to not go the distance.

In the second undercard we have GUARANTEED fireworks, why? Because Jorge Arce is in the fight. This guy would fight a heavyweight if they let him. A no fear, traditional Mexican brawler who will take 2 to give 1. His opponent is the up and coming Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (Son of the fighter of the same name) who brings a undefeated record, and excellent KO ratio, into the ring against the veteran. I see Vazquez taking this one, but not without getting his bell rung once or twice by Arce.

In the 3rd undercard bout, we have the long awaited (at least by me) return of Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik. Pavlik will be taking on the undefeated, hard hitting, Alphonso Lopez. Lopez, out of Cut and Shoot, Texas, will be a tough customer for Kelly for a return bout. I see "The Ghost" looking rusty for the first, maybe second round, and finding an opening toward the end of the second/third round. Once he sees Lopez's mistakes, the killer instinct will be brought right back to the surface, and we can look for a KO around rounds 4 or 5.

In the main event of the evening we obviously have Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao vs "Sugar" Shane Mosley fighting for the WBO Welterwight Title. I truly believe this fight will be competitive, if only for a few rounds. Mosley thrives on aggressive fighters, he loves when people attack him, and can still punch. As much as I would like to see a 12 round back and forth battle though, I see this fight being tough for the first 4-5 rounds with Pacquiao taking control, using his superior speed around the midway point, leading to a late TKO or wide decision victory for Pacman.

Simply the Best

Totally unrelated to Boxing, but still awesome....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGuhZvO1DKg

2:20 The Hulkster shows how he felt about Gaddafi in the late 80's....only if we would have let Hulkamania run wild on Libya....only if...

Upset City

The month of April has brought forth numerous upsets, and shake ups in the boxing rankings. Just this past weekend Andre Berto, and Juan Manuel Lopez both fell to opposition. Berto lost his "0" to Vicious Victor Ortiz, who answered a lot of questions fans had about him, and that he had for himself. Ortiz's most career defining moment up to this point was a 6th round surrender to the hands of Marcos Maidana in 2009. Many people doubted his heart, along with his skills, after such a display. Saturday night though Ortiz looked like a man possessed. He, if you'll excuse my cheesiness, had the Eye of the Tiger, a different look than I had ever seen him have. I am sure Berto will bounce back from the loss, maybe dropping his old P.A.L. trainer would be a good start. He has gotten him this far but can only teach him so much.

Amir Khan was bailed out by a ridiculous stoppage over Paul McCloskey. An accidental headbutt caused a cut over McCloskey's eye and the ref immediately stopped the fight without even giving his corner a chance to work on it. Khan was in control but McCloskey was any but finished. Something fishy.

Former rising star, and federal inmate, James Kirkland was starched inside one round against former champ, and light hitting Nobuhiro Ishida.

Highly touted Middleweight prospect, David Lemieux, was KO'd by tough veteran Marco Antonio Rubio last week. This fight was supposed to be a nice B-List name to add to Lemieux's resume, instead it turned into a nightmare.

Lastly, in the possible upset of the year that fell just short, Erik Morales tried to turn back the hands of father time against the young, hard hitting, Marcos Maidana and almost did. Morales found himself dealing with a nasty mouse just under his right eyelid after 2 rounds, which had him fight cautious the next few. When he let his hands go in the following rounds he did a great job of boxing and brawling, such a good job in a few peoples minds that he should have gotten the decision.

The two upcoming fights I am very excited to see play out are Carl Froch vs. Glen Johnson and (though some may not agree) Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley.

The Cobra vs. The Road Warrior
Froch is a hard hitting dude, no doubts about that, but he showed fantastic boxing skills against Arthur Abraham to basically shut him out in his last fight as well. The Cobra refuses to back down and lay off the gas, as he showed in his last second KO win against Jermain Taylor.
On the other hand you have "The Road Warrior" this guy continues to turn back the clock and take care of business. Some his KO wins being Allan Green and Roy Jones Jr. Johnson has had his fair share of losses in his career but always brings it in big fights. This should be a good one. Box Rec and ESPN have confirmed that the fight will take place in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall so I will try to be on site for that one. Froch KO Rd 10-12

Pac-Man Vs. Sugar
Manny Pacqiuao has had a meteoric rise to the top pf boxing, politics, and fame over the past 5-6 years. He has blazed through weight classes, won titles in all of them, defeated larger men, and has done it all with a smile and charm.
Shane Mosley has struggled recently, which is expected when you are 39 years old and still holding onto boxing. In Shane's last 2 fights he was taken to school by Floyd Mayweather (outisde of a good right hand in the 2nd round), and fought to a dismal draw against former Contender star, Sergio Mora.
In this fight I can see a freak knockout though. Mosley's best fights were against straight forward guys, who bring the action toward him. He is a great counter puncher against brawlers. If you think for a second that Manny is not going to come at him and bring the fight to him, you are out of your mind. This is what gives Shane a chance. If Mosley pops him real good, Manny will go down...BUT as we saw in the Mayweather fight, Shane is old, and his conditioning can only be getting worse. Mosley is a threat inside the first 4 rounds, after that it will be Pac-Man darting in and out landing his 5-6 punch combos and putting the finishing touches on Mosley's career. Pacquiao UD or KO 11-12