Well boxing heads I hope you have enjoyed the time away from P”N”B.  A little time off never hurt anyone except maybe boxers… the irony.  It’s been many moons since the last edition and rather than keeping everyone chomping at the bit lets unload what we have to fire off.  So put on your heads phones, lock your computers and step away from your desk and go find a spot in the break room to sit down and enjoy.

On a side note this article was fueled by some jet fuel coffee and some Black Keys as the soundtrack, now back to your normal P”N”B edition.

So we will work backwards rather than sticking to my normal format and we will begin by discussing the sexy topic at this current moment.

People are clamoring over the idea of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. “Sugar” Shane Mosley on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto come May 5^th and though I know I am wrong, dead wrong to believe that they or you shouldn’t be so quick to judge.  The truth is any of your first instincts are spot on and mine are not.  Now that we have that out of the way, I disagree with all of you!  Not yelling from the bell towers but rather hanging on the sidewalk talking to myself. The truth is this fight or this type of fight happens every weekend in boxing I believe the phrase “old lion vs. young lion” will be thrown all over the commentary for this fight.  Look let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment it’s not like the fire headed youngster has been taking on primo competition to begin with and essentially this would also be another cliché of a “win or go home” bout for Shane Mosley.

I know Mosley has looked bad and I know he has fooled us three times in a row but wouldn’t that also imply that if ever he had one bullet left in the chamber this is where he needs to use it.  Fine maybe I am justifying the fight to much, but I believe it will be more entertaining than you probably think it will be.

We joked that the Pacquaio fight for Mosley was part of the Pacquaio pension plan.  Consider the fight with Canelo as being the “Golden Boy Parachute bonus”.

Also on the card is Peter Quillien vs. WInky Wright… I know right!  OMG the fight we have all been begging for!  The effort it takes to type about this fight isn’t worth doing so there I won’t.

Now my one fight that was being mentioned was a bout between Robert Guerreo vs. Paulie Malignaggi. You may remember Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero as the fighter who has in recent months done his best to do a mirrored interpretation of Vanes Martirosyan by calling out every fighter that BoxRec lists and then once a dance partner comes up Robert decided to sit this one out claiming Paulie isn’t worth it.

But this is exactly the type of fight that Robert needs if he wants to break into the welterweight division.  Besides, what happen to the Marcos Maidana fight?  Or hey by the way how’s the recovery from surgery?  All I am saying is you can’t sit there and talk a big game and then sit on the bench come game time.  Paulie is a legitimate and formidable opponent in this case and the fact that the ghost declined the fight just looks bad not even a pound for pound publicist can rationalize or spin the collateral damage.

What makes this even worse to say is that I like Robert and always wish nothing but good things for the man but he does deserve some heat for this one people.

Anyone hating on the Mayweather vs. Cotto or Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley then I think those fans have earned their right to feel that way but I encourage you to refrain from doing so.  Outside of Floyd fighting Manny these bouts are widely warranted and respected bouts.  Relax people.

A mini rant if you will: I am sick of hearing the case of “why”!  Why would they face other when they can fight lesser opposition for 25-30Million? That plan has the potential to eventually back fire and risk one of the PPV champs some serious ego blows.  Thus implying again Bradley or Cotto could derail the pretty little make-believe dream we all long for.  A two story house a picket fence 2.7 kids and Mayweather vs. Pacquiao shown on Saturday afternoon on ABC.

Walk it off and lets keeps moving

I will be writing an article for Undisputed Magazine and wanting to make sure I get enough votes on an article I am doing on what will be a better fight, the Mayweather vs. Cotto or Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley take the survey here  https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/questions/3168867990767/

Let’s move on.

Notice how there is no talk of last week’s Friday Night Fights???  Yeah that was intentional anyone see the riots at the Argentina boxing matches crazy stuff man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X38STSIlLTw

I know some of you guys are dying for me to talk about the Chavez Jr. fight and I am just spent on the topic for now maybe once P”N”B Radio is up and running.  You can call in and we will chop it up but for now I am simply trying to get the ring rust off.  Besides who wants to talk about cruiserweights? Uhg.

As for the next topic last week I attended a press conference in Tucson discussing the upcoming SHOBOX card with Showdown promotions in conjunction with Top Rank set for March 23rd.

Diego Magdaleno is the main event and in supporting cast of Hanzel Martinez and Juanito Gonzalez  will also be in separate bouts.

I spoke with Hanzels’ manager and brother in law who just so happens to be Antonio Margarito and coming off the heels of witnessing the Chavez Jr. fight I asked home why he thought he should be mentioned when discussions of the kid with the silver spoon fights again.  Through translation of the young light middleweight Juanito Gonzales I asked Margarito what makes him think he can beat a cruiserweight Chavez Jr. and respectively responded “he has never been in the ring with someone that can hit like me”.

Interesting note:  Credit to writer Norm Frauenheim who asked Margarito how he would like to be remember once he hangs up the gloves and I can only paraphrase since my recorder was off but Tony did respond stating he wanted to thank the fans who have followed him throughout his career and that he left everything in the ring and that he gave it his all every time he stepped in the ring.

Say what you want about Margarito but when he spoke at the presser for his fighter Hanzel Martinez all eyes were on him and his salesman ship was dead on.

We will feature more from this fight cad as time goes by

ARIZONA Boxing Beat:

Where oh where to begin?  Seems only fitting that in the desert that the boxing scene reflects similar weather patterns it’s been pretty slow since the closing out of 2011 in yawning fashion then you wake up and Bam we have a laundry list of things to go over.

First let’s start with Iron Boy Promotions Card this Friday at Celebrity Theatre that has such fighters on the card as:

Amateur fighter Luis Espinoza – who I am looking forward to witness live. I hear tons of good things about the kid, even my boy from Indio Jacob Najar is high up on the kid and I trust Najars Boxing eye ever since he warned about an upset that was brewing many moons ago.

Also amateur fighter Francisco C’De Vaca cousin of Alexis Santiago who also took the trip to get some work in over at Mayweather gym.

Chris Lopez- a fighter I know little about however trains only a hop skip and jump away from mi casa therefore I hope he becomes a world champion one day and reps Sonny’s Gym to the fullest so I can walk to a reporting gig on a weekly basis, (make it happen Chris!)

Abel Ramos- big strong kid who can crack need I say more?

Juan Garcia – what’s to be said about the young man who is a seasoned vet had a string of bad luck and losses and after regaining massive confidence in a upset win against Hector Serrano last year is looking for a homecoming bout to keep him busy. For a kid who cant catch a break I am glad to see him get some rounds in this Friday.

Emilio Colon Garcia- well let’s hear it from the MexiRican in a prepared statement:

“This training camp has been the best for me ever. I am in a good place and I feel great. I’m just being me and doing what I was supposed to do a year ago which is to treat boxing like a career and business not just a sport or a job. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to train with Chuck McGregor for this fight. We make a good team. My whole team really works hard together and we do it the right way and we have fun while we do it. I can’t wait for this fight. I am ready to show everybody that I haven’t been hiding but I’ve been focused. Chuck is from Chicago and he is old school and that is what I love most about training with him. He has taught me a lot of new things that are making me a better, stronger, and smarter fighter. It’s going to be a good show and I am very excited to fight on the same card as my cousin Juan Garcia.”

In the main event is Alexis Santiago who will be followed in the ring by his new trainer out of Las Vegas Roger Mayweather (ever heard of him?).

I spoke with Alexis “Beaver” Santiago at length last Sunday and I can tell you the young bantam weight is hungry “I am anxious to fight I have been training harder than I ever have with roger and just staying in the gym hours at a time”.

Knowing Beaver long enough and following his career I had to ask him since he sparred with Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nonito Donaire I asked him who he thinks who win between the two? “Rigo would win.  He is a better boxer and counter puncher”.

Personally I have interviewed Alexis many times before a fight and there is something different maybe it’s the expectations that comes along with his world class trainer I am not sure maybe I will see it come Friday night but this Beaver seems a little angrier more tenacious if you will than the kid in the past has shown. Maybe he is excited just to get back in the ring at this point.

I know he has been lined up for fights only for fight after fight card to fall apart or opponents drop out so I know he is hungry for some work.

You would think the AZ Boxing beat stops here but the beat goes on and the beats goes on

Phoenix fighter Jesus Ernesto Gonzales Jr. is fighting this weekend in a IBF inter galactic title against Adonis Stevenson.  All opinions aside this is a legitimate ESPN fight type of a fight that is not on ESPN. Thankfully we have boxing heads like Tony Gastelum.

Now I don’t have Fight Now TV but I do have a Laptop with an HDMI chord if you catch my drift now I just need an awesome fan to send me a……..link…… (ya I said it)

Jesus Gonzales Jr. has been dying for a break through fight to get his name in the mix and he is going into the north country to earn his stripes. I wish him nothing but the best because he is going to need it. This isn’t an easy test for “El Martillo” but that has never been his style to take the easy road either now has it. I hope you all have the sense to watch this fight by any means necessary I find it hard to believe you would be disappointed.

I will end with some news about Jose Benavidez Jr.  While in Tucson I spoke with a Top Rank associate who said Jose is recovery well from his injury and they were lucky to hear there was no tear in tendons or muscles no broken bones in his wrist it was a simple procedure to remove cartilage and hope to get him back in the ring my May sometime.

Hey 2,000 words in first time up to bat this year not bad huh.  Okay well I hope to see you at the fights

You can reach me hear https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1537481657&ref=tn_tnmn

or on the corner of “help support your local boxing events” avenue.

Oh and PS. Punches “N” Bunches Radio is slowly brewing but it is almost ready to be unveiled so be patient young grasshoppers.

Hello folks… yes it has been awhile.  While I was away on break, boxing seemed to be pretty stagnant. Obviously the big news, once again, is the non fight.  Yes, ever since Manny Pacquaio received the ultimate gift against Juan Manuel Marquez, the rumbles of the top two P4P fighters actually deciding it in the ring gained traction… AGAIN!

This time, yes this time, many believed this would be it, Floyd and Manny for it all… think again.  How many times are we going to let them get away with this folks?

Any boxing fan/journalist worth their salt should NEVER mention this fight again, unless it is signed, sealed and delivered.  And even then… buyer beware.

This time around the blame seems to fall on Manny and Arum exclusively.  But who really cares? It is sad that fans have to put through this.

If you really want to make a statement, don’t point fingers; instead, don’t show up the next time Arum features Pacquiao for his company, and his wallet.  Don’t do it!

The good news in all of this is Floyd settles for Miguel Cotto instead.  This fight does have some bit and, for me, it will show just how good, or overrated, both of these fighters really are.

I am not convinced Floyd is as great as his groupie’s thinks he is.  I am smart enough to know his undefeated record (which is bogus BTW) does not mean his is one of the best fighters of all time.

If this is the case, then Joe Calzaghe is also one of the greatest fighters of all time and Rocky Marciano is the greatest heavyweight of all time. We all know neither of those is true, so let’s stop with the 41 up and 41 down nonsense.

However, if Floyd truly dominates Cotto, and I mean with his fists as well as his feet, then his stock will go way up in my book. The only book that counts

For Cotto, I truly believe he is the most underrated and underappreciated fighter of our time. He needs to really perform well and win serious rounds against Floyd to help my argument.

Looking forward to see the outcome.

The boxing action that has taken place in 2012 so far has been lukewarm at best.  HBO featured a very good doubleheader, on paper, that did not pan out to fireworks.

Nonito Donaire is losing stock on the Zute Market very fast. The one moment that he really had Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. in trouble, he turned southpaw and looked very amateurish.  His supposedly great trainer needed to get on him and get on him good.  HBO did not do a good job of picking up on the situation, so there is no way of knowing how Donaire’s trainer responded to such a terrible move.

JC Superstar Jr. then took on Marco Antonio Rubio in a fight, save the last two rounds, was very dull. Rubio looked as if he was pulling his punches and “The Son” looked sluggish throughout, with some bursts of brilliance. The last two rounds were different and, what we hoped to see during the whole fight.

After the fight, if you want to be a realist, you once again saw, why boxing will never be considered a top sport in the United States ever again. As the Kid was saying he wanted Sergio Martinez next, Bob Arum, the man who many blame for Floyd/Manny, had a sly grin on his face, which said to me ‘ain’t gonna happen.’

I am not sure what Arum is going to give us next with the Son Of, but I know it is not what we all want to see. A shame that people actually make excuses for this guy. He is killing our sport. Stop letting him get away with it.

The worst thing that happened while I was away was too many deaths in boxing.  Referee Wayne Kelly’s untimely death was the biggest shock.  I had Wayne on my show and spoke with him frequently on facebook and on the phone.  Wayne was always talking about working out and loving life. RIP friend.

The boxing world also lost Marvelous Marvin Haglers’ head trainer, Goody Petronelli.  Goody’s best night in the Marvelous One’s corner was the night he fought Roberto Duran.

Hagler started off slow, as the game plan of Hagler counter punching an aggressive Hands of Stone was not panning out, because Duran was leaning back and playing the role of counter puncher. Hagler was frustrated by this tactic and was not fluent with his punches in the early rounds. Goody picked up on this and urged Hagler to stop trying to load up on punches “that is not the game of the game” were part of his instructions.

Hagler seemed to settle down around round four and staggered Duran and seemed to be controlling the fight in the middle rounds with his brilliant left jab.

A late rally by Duran got the pro No Mas crowd back in the fight. Sensing danger on the scorecards, Goody urged Hagler to turn it on after round 13.  Hagler responded and dominated the last two rounds with an aggressive attack not yet showcased by the Brockton Blockbuster during the fight.

The move turned out to be true, as Hagler would have lost the fight had he not won the last two rounds on all three scorecards. Goody Petronelli earned his coin for the rest of his career that night.

Goody was also a head trainer who was a brilliant cut man, a rarity in boxing.

The other brilliant trainer who holds his own as a cut man also passed away recently. Angelo Dundee. Dundee is really a legend among legends. No one can claim to be better than Dundee. A great strategist when he needed to be, a fantastic motivator when the situation called for it. Even before he told Ray Leonard he was blowing it, Dundee would often tell Muhammad Ali to turn tiger, when he felt his fighter was down in a fight.

Angelo was also incredibly cunning.  Cutting the glove of the Greatest, to kill time, when Ali was practically out on his feet in the Henry Cooper fight and holding out on the Ray Leonard/Hearns’ fight, until there was millions to be made, instead of thousands.

And knowing when to say enough is enough in the incredibly sad Holmes Ali fiasco.

Dundee was unique in so many ways.  He certainly would have told Nonito Donaire about himself in his last two fights. Never again will we see the likes of him.

Ramos vs Rigondeaux

“Rico Ramos to me looks like a guy with 19 fights that’s not ready for a world title fight. He just seems lost in there…” – Harold Lederman

Minutes after these words were uttered by legendary boxing judge Harold Lederman in the seventh round of the Rico Ramos/Akifumi Shimoda fight, Rico landed a left hook that won him the WBA super bantamweight world championship.

As it stands, in a rich filled division that includes Toshiaki Nishioka, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, and now Filipino sensation Nonito Donaire, Rico Ramos has made it to the dance.  Weather or not he is ready he must now prove that he truly belongs in the mix.  And prove he’s willing to do because he steps back into the lion’s den tonight on ShowBox to show the boxing world that the belt around his waist did not come about because of a fluke or some lucky punch as he takes on the Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux.

His opponent, despite having a lot less fights than the champ (8-0), comes in with more experience.  Guillermo Rigondeaux is considered to be one of the greatest if not the greatest amateur fighters’ of all-time.  With six consecutive Cuban National Championships and winning two Olympic gold medals in succession (only a few of his amateur accomplishments), has more big time event experience than Rico and has been thrust into the spotlight since day 1, something Rico is only starting to receive.  On another note, although he only has professional 8 fights to his credit, Rigondeaux has already had experience going championship rounds when he won the interim WBA championship in a twelve round decision over Ricardo Cordoba November 13, 2010.

Tonight he goes for his first full championship reign in only fight number 9 because at age 31 in the super bantamweight division, you already have one foot in the grave.  Because he wasn’t allowed to compete professionally being from Cuba, he had a late start to his professional career and that will always be a problem.  We never know when Rigondeaux will become old.

As for Rico, his position in this fight is that of the underdog.  Many boxing insiders are already looking past the young champion and playing matchmaker for the Cuban sensations next opponent.  Perhaps they can make an argument since Rico’s most significant fight (the WBA title win July 9, 2011) was the most unimpressive fight of his career.  However, if you have a conversation with this young champion, he’ll have you believing that he’s far from the underdog and will be one of the best 122-pounders around like Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales were back in the day.

He’s confident without being conceited.  He’s youthful but with an element of maturity.  And although he has the skills, it takes more than just talent to win championships and be one of the elite.  Make no mistake about it, its not his slick skills, athleticism or his patience that make him as good as he is or what will maybe make him the best in his division one day, it’s what he brings to the table inside of him… intelligence and maturity.

You can get hint of his maturity when he speaks about his title winning performance. He will be the first to tell you that he made many mistakes, “I was nervous and wasn’t listening (to my corner),”says Ramos.  But he has made it quite clear that he is one of those fighter’s who learns from his mistakes.  He is anxious to prove it to the world and is happy to do it against Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Everyone knows that Rico brings the goods but some question if he can put it all together under the bright lights against his best opponent to date against Rigondeaux.  The flip side to this is that Rigondeaux is also facing arguably his best opponent to date as well.  The 31 year old will have to not only deal with a young, fresh and skilled fighter but a mature and level-headed one as well.

At the end of the day, you have the first significant fight of 2012 happening tonight with two of the most legitimate super bantamweights in the world.  Whoever wins, it will be a catapult to bigger things because of how good their opponent is.

After a great year of boxing in 2011, a few big fights have gotten boxing back onto the general sporting public’s mind and the sport will only build off of that and have an even bigger 2012.  From big name fighters taking each other on to young American fighters rising to the top of their respective weight classes to scandal, I think 2012 will have it all.  So sit back and read, as I take a look into my crystal ball and predict the 12 biggest story lines of 2012.

1. Mayweather-Pacquiao Will Finally happen!

Despite Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s jail sentence, fight fans should expect a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown to finally happen. The fight has been in high demand since 2009 and given the circumstances, there may be no better time for it to happen then in 2012.  I have a good feeling that both camps will finally agree on the terms and a fight should be signed for either May or November 2012.  No doubt this event will break all live gate and pay-per-view records.  But most important, 2012 will finally be the year the world gets the fight they have wanted all these years, which would be more of a sign that the world may be coming to an end than the Mayan calendar scare.  My official prediction for the fight:  Mayweather wins an easy decision; 8 rounds to 4.

2.  Bernard Hopkins’ Age Will Catch Up With Him.

After Bernard Hopkins knocked Oscar De La Hoya out with a left hook to the body in 2004, Hopkins told the world that he promised his mother that he would not fight after he turned 40 years old.  The Executioner just turned 47 this past January 15th.  Up to this point, B-Hop has been able to turn back the clock and put on brilliant performances against Antonio Tarver, Kelly Pavlik and Jean Pascal.  However, father time may just catch up to Bernard in 2012.

3.  Juan Manuel Marquez Will Continue To Show The World That He Is Still Relevant.

Whether Juan Manuel Marquez fights Manny Pacquiao for a fourth time or fights a top lightweight or junior welterweight, he will show that he is still a force to be reckoned with.  If a Pacquiao-Marquez IV fight does happen, expect Marquez to give Manny another tough fight and maybe even get the decision win this time around.  If not, expect Marquez to fight a top fighter at lightweight or junior welterweight and show the world that he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

4.  Andre Ward Will Defeat Lucian Bute In Dominant Fashion.

The demand for an Andre Ward-Lucian Bute fight is extremely high at the moment.  Expect both Ward and Bute to fight other fighters in May or June and shortly after sign the contract to fight each other in November or December.  When the fight happens, expect Andre Ward to dominate Lucian Bute from beginning to end and leave critics with no doubt in their mind to whom the best super middleweight in the world is.

5.  The Rise Of Gary Russell Jr. Will Continue.

Powerful with blurring hand speed, featherweight Russell is the most heavily hyped U.S. prospect we have seen in a long time.  Already a darling of HBO, Russell will step up his competition early in 2012 and win a world title by the end of it.  By December 2012, the buzz will be about all of the possible super fights against Juan Manuel Lopez, Yuriokis Gamboa or Adrien Broner that Russell could be ready for in early 2013.

6. Cruiserweight Will Become Cool.

Not heavyweight cool and maybe not even junior middleweight cool, but there are some interesting talents in the 200-pound weight class.  In Europe, there is Marco Huck, Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.  There is talent in Russia (Denis Lebedev), Australia (Danny Green) and Nigeria (Lateef Kayode).  And in the U.S. there is Steve Cunningham and a resurgent Antonio Tarver, –  giving the division a true global flavour. It’s the kind of talented-but-anonymous weight class that would make for an interesting tournament. You hear that HBO and Showtime?

7.  Nonito Donaire Will Continue To Dominate His Opposition And Storm Through The Super Bantamweight Division.

Nonito Donaire is scheduled to fight Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. for the vacant WBO super bantamweight title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on February 4th.  Donaire has stormed through the flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions.  Although his stoppage win over Vic Darchinyan gained him recognition, his devastating KO win over Fernando Montiel has brought his name under the bright lights of boxing.  Look for Nonito to win the vacant WBO super bantamweight title with another “hightlight reel” knockout and go onto achieve another two dominating victories over two top five super bantamweight fighters.  By the end of 2012, Donaire-Gamboa may very well be on its way to materializing.

8. Brandon Rios Will Be Involved With The Fight Of The Year.

After losing his WBA lightweight title on the scales and subsequently knocking John Murray out in the 11th round of their fight last November, Brandon Rios claimed his next fight would be at 140 pounds. This statement leaves boxing fans with one fight in mind: Rios-Maidana.  Marcos Maidana is scheduled to fight Devon Alexander on February 25th.  Whether Maidana wins or loses, the demand for a Rios-Maidana fight will not be phased.  If a Maidana fight fails to materialize, look for Bam Bam to mix it up with a top 140 pound fighter, possibly Juan Manuel Marquez and provide fight fans with the fight of the year for 2012.

9.  Timothy Bradley Will Directly Or Indirectly Show That He Is Superior To Amir Khan.

Whether Amir Khan’s loss to Lamont Peterson was controversial or fair is square is irrelevant.  Khan now has unfinished business with Peterson and if a Khan-Peterson rematch doesn’t happen, expect a Khan-Bradley showdown to occur.  If the fight does happen, expect Timothy Bradley to outclass Amir Khan from start to finish.  If circumstances don’t allow Khan to fight Bradley in 2012, expect Bradley to continue to dominate his opposition and show the world that he is the best junior welterweight in the world.

10.  Berto-Ortiz II Will Not Look Like Its Predecessor.

Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz will be squaring off against each other once again on February 11th.  The much anticipated rematch will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV and will be aired live on Showtime.  These two first stepped into the ring with each other in April of last year and provided fight fans with a fight of the year candidate.  Fight fans expect the same type of fight in the rematch.  They should not hold their breath. Do not expect a knockdown filled, war. Instead, expect a high speed chess match.  Andre Berto will smooth out the bumps in his game, fight a more disciplined fight, use his athleticism and defeat Victor Ortiz via unanimous decision.

11.  A Top Fighter Will Test Positive For Performance Enhancing Drugs.

With all the demand for Olympic-style drug testing, a top-tier boxer is bound to slip up and be exposed as a cheater.  No matter the sport, we have seen big-time names be ousted as users of various performance enhancing drugs and it is only a matter of time before boxing has its unlucky day as well. There are a few fighters who I have in mind, but for the sake of being fair, I won’t point fingers.  But don’t be surprised if it’s one of your favourite boxers who is exposed as a cheater.

12.  Seth Mitchell will continue to rise to the top and end Klitchshko dominance.

The next hope for the United States in boxing’s heavyweight division is the undefeated Seth Mitchell. Mitchell is fresh off a TKO win over veteran fighter Timur Ibragimov and will continue to face stiffer competition, ultimately ending up with him facing off with one of the two Klitschko brothers in the latter part of 2012.  The Klitschko brothers have taken down any and all so-called next big American fighters and one of the two will jump at the shot of adding Mitchell to the list of hyped-up Americans to their already lengthy list.  I feel this time will be different for Mitchell, as he has the best chance out of anyone in the heavyweight division to end the Klitschko’s longtime reign over boxing’s most prestigious division.  Repeat after me: We have a new heavyweight champion of the world and his name is Seth Mitchell.

Until next time, the “BOXING PROPHET” has spoken!!!!!

As far back as we can go in boxing history, there have been so many “dream” matchups that boxing fans have wanted to see.  The greatest fighter to ever lace them up, Sugar Ray Robinson fought who many believe to be the second greatest fighter ever against Henry Armstrong in 1943 but this was more about Robinson helping out a guy who he looked up to.  Armstrong, who was near the end of the career, told Robinson that if he respected him, fight him and let me make some money.  Robinson accepted the challenge and he dominated Armstrong over 10 rounds and some boxing experts believe Robinson carried his idol during their fight.   We saw the same thing happen with Joe Louis when he fought Rocky Marciano and years later, when Muhammad Ali fought the great Larry Holmes. Back then, fighters wanted to go out there and prove to the boxing public and to themselves that they wanted to be the best and in order to do that, they were willing to fight the best and it didn’t matter if those fighters were past their primes.

Let’s rewind back to mid-2009, shall we?  On the same day Manny Pacquiao took on Ricky Hatton, Floyd Mayweather ended his 15 month “retirement” from the sport and announced that he would challenge Manny’s arch rival, Juan Manuel Marquez later that summer.  I won’t get into the results of what happened in those fights, we all know what happened, but ever since that moment, the two best fighters in the world have been on a collision course.  You would think that by now these two great fighters would have met at least once and the two camps tried to make this fight happen and the two were scheduled to fight in March of 2010 but the two could not come to terms. Floyd insisted that he wanted Manny to take random drug tests all the way leading up to the fight and Manny did not agree to those terms.

There was another opportunity to make this fight happen in the summer of 2011, but again the two could not come to terms with how often the drug tests would be administered. But what has the boxing world talking now is the fact that Floyd publicly called Manny out on his twitter account earlier this week.  Here are Floyd’s comments from his twitter account: “Manny Pacquiao, I’m calling you out let’s fight and give the world what they want to see!” “My Jail Sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in.  Step up Punk!”

This put the boxing world in frenzy and many fans believed that FINALLY, we might get to see the fight we have all wanted to see.  But instead of doing what he could to make this fight happen, Manny’s promoter Bob Arum diffused this as only he can.  Arum responded to Floyd’s comments by saying, “June 9^th is perfect, May 5^th is out, that’s impossible!” Now most boxing fans would not have a problem with waiting another month, but Arum left out one important thing—Floyd Mayweather is due in jail on June 1^st!  Arum went on to say later that a fight could happen at the end of May, that way they would have enough time to build an outdoor arena capable of holding 45,000 people.  As we stand right now, there will not be a fight and to me, there is only one man to blame: Bob Arum.

Now look, I could also blame Manny as well because as brave as he has been in the ring, he’s not willing to go to his promoter and demand that he makes this fight happen at any cost.  Do you think that Muhammad Ali would have had this problem when he was fighting? Ali would have told King or Arum that they do their job and make the fight happen, or else he will find another promoter. Ali understood that HE was the main draw and the one in charge, not his promoter.  So absolutely, I can blame Manny for not going to Arum, but I don’t believe Manny is not willing to fight Floyd. I can only go by what I have seen in his career and Manny has never been afraid to fight anyone.

The reason why I blame Bob Arum is because he’s been a promoter for over 40 years and he has made so many GREAT fights happen on his watch and for him to drag his feet and make excuses lets me know a few things. First off, I can’t deny that Arum has a stable of good fighters. Nonito Donaire might someday replace Manny and Floyd as the best pound for pound fighter in the sport, he has Miguel Cotto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. as well, but none of those guys can put butts in the seats quite like Manny Pacquiao can. Manny is Arum’s number one meal ticket and bargaining chip and Arum has to know that if he fights Mayweather and loses, then he will lose some of his power.  Second, ever since Manny destroyed Miguel Cotto in 2009, he’s been matching Manny with “his” fighters and he has not been as willing to negotiate with other promoters.  That way, Arum can pocket money from both fighters.  It seems as if Arum is only out for himself and doesn’t give a crap about what boxing fans want to see.

And also, Arum has to know that as great as Manny is, he’s not ready to face Floyd Mayweather.  Manny just got done fighting his arch-rival, Juan Manuel Marquez who is one of the best counter-punchers in the sport and most boxing experts (including myself) thought that Marquez did enough to win.  As great as Marquez is as a counter-puncher and a fighter, Floyd Mayweather is at least a grade above Marquez when it comes to counter-punching, he’s a much better defensive fighter, he’s bigger than Manny and is just as fast. That doesn’t bode well for Manny if he were to fight Floyd and Arum knows that.

Do you know what this reminds me of?  Remember in the movie Rocky 3, when Rocky was beating all of these stiffs and Clubber Lang, the number one contender was tearing up everyone?  Rocky was challenged by Lang and he wanted to fight him, but his trainer, Mickey told Rocky, “This guy will kill ya to death!” “He’ll knock you into tommorrrrroooowww Rock!!!” Again, I don’t believe Manny is afraid of Floyd or vice versa, but I do believe that Arum knows that Manny can’t whip Floyd Mayweather and he’s trying to exploit Manny for as long as he can before they finally do face each other.  The question is, will they ever fight and if so, will anyone care when they do?

I once compared Floyd and Manny’s reluctance to fight each other to when Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler teased us for 5 years, but this is now much different.  Back then, Leonard called his own shots and while Hagler was promoted by Arum, Hagler was in charge.  The reason why things are different is because Floyd is his own boss and Manny is under Arum’s thumb and does what he says.  What both fighters need to realize is that while they may still be the two best fighters in the world, Father Time is undefeated and as great is both fighters are, both are not getting any younger and while I haven’t seen any signs of slipping with Floyd, Manny has not looked spectacular since he dismantled Antonio Margarito a year ago.   When Leonard and Hagler did face each other in 1987, it was a good fight (And for the record, Leonard deserved to win the fight) it would have been even better had they would have fought a few years earlier.  Hagler was starting to slow down and was thinking of retiring before their encounter and Leonard was coming off of a 3 year layoff. Both Floyd and Manny are not spring chickens any longer and if they continue to play musical chairs with each other each year and refuse to fight, there will be some boxing fans that will lose interest.

And for that, again I blame Bob Arum, who has been coming up with so many lame excuses as to why this fight can’t take place in May.  Now I know Floyd wants this fight on his terms, but are his terms all that bad?  Floyd wants to fight on May 5^th, a date that he had reserved for a couple of months and now Arum wants to fight a few weeks later and in an outdoor arena?  And also, before that Arum also mentioned that Manny needed more time for his cut to heal.  Manny fought in November, so he’s telling the boxing world that it takes about 4-5 months for Manny’s cut to heal?  What Manny needs to understand is while he’s already a first ballot Hall of Famer, if he doesn’t go to Arum and demand that he makes this fight, his legacy will not be complete.  I believe Manny wants to fight Floyd, his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has said several times that he wants Manny to fight Floyd, so the only one who is holding this fight up is Arum and we all know why.  It’s time for Manny to go to Arum and give him an ultimatum: Make this fight happen in May, or….your fired!!   Manny is at a point in his career where he doesn’t need a promoter who calls the shots.  He’s arguably the most popular fighter in the sport and he should be promoting himself and making his own decisions.

As things stand right now, rumor has it that Manny’s next opponent may be Miguel Cotto, the same man Manny already annihilated over 2 years ago.  And to those who believe this will be any different, let’s not get fooled by what happened in Cotto’s last two fights. Cotto beat Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito, two guys who have been washed up for quite some time.  Cotto looked good beating them, but there is no way he will be able to deal with Manny even if he’s showing signs of slowing down.  I know, the first 3 round of their first fight was competitive, but once Manny knocked Cotto down in the 4^th round for the second time in the fight, the fight was all but over.  Manny dominated the fight from that moment on and Cotto got on his bicycle and tried to avoid Manny for the rest of the fight.  Manny walked Cotto down and gave him a horrific beating before stopping him in the 12^th and final round.  Cotto hasn’t beaten anyone relevant enough to deserve another shot at Manny, but since Arum is Manny’s puppet-master, he could possibly be trying to fool boxing fans into buying this PPV. I won’t be one of those that will be fooled. I won’t buy the PPV if this is Manny’s next opponent.

There has been talk of Manny fighting three other potential opponents: Lamont Peterson, Timothy Bradley or Manny’s arch-rival, Juan Manuel Marquez. Out of all of those potential opponents, I’d personally rather see Manny fight Marquez for the 4^th time for obvious reasons. I have NO interest in seeing Manny fight Bradley and not much interest in him fighting Peterson.  As I stated before, Arum wants to exploit Manny as much as he can fighting guys that he believes Manny can beat and who also happen to be promoted by his company.

Now I understand Floyd can be abrasive and brash and that Floyd and Arum don’t get along and considering some of Floyd’s recent troubles I can see why many boxing fans dislike him, but Floyd is a brilliant businessman and he’s doing everything he can do to make this fight happen.  Now I could not say that about him in the past, there were times before when Floyd could have done more to make the fight happen, but that’s no longer the case.  The biggest hurdle was Floyd demanding that Manny takes a random drug test and boxing fans accused Floyd of ducking Manny because of his request.  For the record, I’ve never believed for a second that Manny used HGH, but all he had to do was agree to take the test randomly without a 14 day window and they probably would have fought by now.  But because it’s Floyd who is making these demands, his critics have a problem with it.  From everything I’ve read, Manny has stated that he agrees to the random testing, so I ask the question again, what (or who) is holding up this fight?

One final comment before I go—there is no doubt that both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be first ballot Hall of Famers when they hang up their gloves. Floyd is one of the 2-3 greatest defensive fighters of all time and Manny Pacquiao is one of the best offensive fighters to ever lace them up but in order for these guys to go down in history and really be compared to the Leonard’s, Duran’s and Hagler’s of the world, they have to stop playing tag with each other and make this fight happen.  I have no doubt in my mind that Floyd is willing to do so and I believe Manny wants to fight Floyd, but this all comes down to Bob Arum. He’s abusing his power right now and while he’s making millions matching Manny up against his fighters, he’s also hurting Manny’s legacy in the process.
Memo to Bob Arum:  You have done A LOT for the sport over the years, but right now you are hurting the sport by preventing this Super-fight from taking place.  I talked about Manny’s and Floyd’s legacies, but your legacy will take a hit if you continue to match your fighters with each other and not with other fighters who are promoted by other guys.  Right now, you’re acting like a selfish brat who doesn’t want to share his toy.  If you continue to go down this path, maybe it should be time for you to take your ball and go home for good, or better yet release Manny from your death-grip.  The two greatest boxing promoters of all time are Don King and yourself, but even King would have did what it took to get this fight signed by now. Swallow your pride, go to the bargaining table with Floyd’s people and make this fight happen…or go away!

BoxingIQ.com Schedule

Be sure to check out The Boxing Prophet Richard Solomon’s next article coming out Wednesday evening on his Top 12 Predictions of 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.  Hopefully you gave and received some great gifts and made some great resolutions.  So keeping with that theme, it’s about that time of the year when boxing fans and writers around the world evaluate what happened in boxing in that particular year and we hand out yearly awards.  2011 was filled with some excellent fights, some that were marred with controversy and there were some fights that did not live up to expectations.  So with that in mind, I have some awards to give out. I will give proper praise to certain fighters for their great performances. I will also give some awards out to some fighters and non-participants who did a lousy job.  So sit back, grab a cold one and get ready to enjoy RC’s 2011 Boxing Awards ceremony.

2011 Fighter of the Year

Candidates—Nonito Donaire, Manny Pacquiao, Andre Ward, Sergio Martinez, Floyd Mayweather

Winner: Andre Ward

Before I begin, there have been many boxing experts who have listed Miguel Cotto as a Fighter of the Year candidate but in all due respect to Cotto and those experts, I can’t put him on my list due to the fact that he beat two of the most overrated, washed up punching bags in the sport (Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito). As most of you know who read my articles, I view quality of opposition as the most important element when I evaluate fighters in terms of ranking fighters.  With that said, all of these candidates have fought some tough competition this year.  This award is not about who is the best fighter in the world—this is about which fighter had the best year and that fighter was Andre “Son of God” Ward.

Not taking anything away from the other candidates, they all had great years, but there are reasons why I could not vote for them over Ward.   First off, Ward had a great year, which ended with winning the Super 6 Tournament by totally out-classing WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch, but earlier this year he also shut out former Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham over 12 one-sided rounds. Nonito Donaire started this year out with a bang by knocking out former Bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel in 2 rounds and later this year he shut out unbeaten and untested Omar Narvaez over 12 rounds.  Very impressive year for Donaire, but I give the slight nod to Ward due to the fact that Ward fought tougher opposition. The same thing applies to the 2010 Fighter of the Year, Sergio Martinez, who won his two fights this year beating Serhiy Dzinziruk and Darren Barker. Martinez was very impressive against Dzinziruk, but against Barker, he was not as sharp and at times he looked vulnerable as he had trouble avoiding Barker’s jab.
And as for Mayweather, he was his usual dominant self against Victor Ortiz, but as great as Mayweather is, I can’t give him the award based off a single fight.  And while Manny Pacquiao won both of his fights this year, he was not impressive against an over the hill, Shane Mosley and against his arch rival, Juan Manuel Marquez, even though he won the fight, most boxing experts (including myself) thought that Marquez did enough to win the fight.

In all, there were several fighters who had great years, but again no one deserves to be the 2011 Fighter of the Year more than Andre “S.O.G.” Ward.

2011 Fight of the Year:

Candidates—Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto, Delvin Rodriguez vs. Paul Wolak I,  Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson, James Kirkland vs. Alfredo Angulo

Winner: Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto

Any one of these fights could have been great choices and this was a tough call.  In all of the fights I mentioned, these were WARS. Not a tactical, boxer vs. puncher battle, but two fighters laying it all on the line in the center of the ring trading bombs.  The reason why I choose Ortiz vs. Berto over the others is because both guys had to overcome adversity and coming into this fight there were many boxing fans who questioned whether either fighter could handle it, especially Ortiz because he was involved in a similar battle against Marcos Maidana and when things got rough, he submitted.  But in this fight, Ortiz started off fast and he knocked Berto down in the first round. Berto rallied and dropped Ortiz in the next round but in the 6^th round, the two fought in one of the best rounds of this year as they both traded brutal knockdowns.  Ortiz went on to beat Berto, winning a comfortable decision, but both fighters proved to their cynics that they are solid fighters who are capable of giving anyone a tough fight on any giving day.   The two will fight again next year so hopefully the two will provide yet another great battle.

KO of the Year:

Candidates—Nonito Donaire’s 2^nd round TKO over Fernando Montiel, Floyd Mayweather’s 4^th round KO over Victor Ortiz, Garry Russell Jr. 1^st KO over Heriberto Ruiz

Winner: Nonito Donaire’s 2^nd round KO of Fernando Montiel

This would have been a no-brainer if the referee would have done his job and stopped the fight after Donaire landed that Sugar Ray Robinson-like left hook that had Montiel on the canvas kicking both of his legs in the air as if he was a turtle on his shell.  Even though Montiel beat the count, he didn’t have any idea where he was and Donaire closed the show with another left hook which forced the referee to stop the fight. This big win propelled Donaire into the upper echelon with some of the top fighters in the sport and the future looks bright for the Filipino Flash.

Round of the Year:

Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto (Round 6) ,  James Kirkland vs. Alfredo Angulo (Round 1), Delvin Rodriguez vs. Pawel Wolak  (Round 9), Brandon Rios vs. Urbano Antillon (Round 1)

Winner:  Victor Ortiz vs. Andre Berto (Round 6)

This was the toughest award to give out.  I went back and watched these rounds again and all of them were great but I gave the slight nod to Ortiz vs. Berto because we saw Ortiz in a similar battle before (against Marcos Maidana) and he did not handle the situation well and when Berto knocked Ortiz down again in the 6^th round, I thought he was going to call it a day and pack it in.  But out of nowhere, Ortiz caught Berto with two, solid left hands that dropped Berto and had the legendary trainer Emanuel Steward yelling, “OH MY GOD!!” And just think, we will see this fight again this year, but this fight will be on Showtime and if something incredible happens in the rematch, I’m sure Hall of Fame announcer Al Bernstein will do a tremendous job as he always does.

The Best Fighter on the Planet Award:

Candidates: Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, Floyd Mayweather, Sergio Martinez, Andre Ward

Winner: Floyd Mayweather

Like him or not, for the last 7 years there has not been a more skilled fighter than Floyd Mayweather and he’s showed no signs of slowing down. I’ve said this many times but it bears repeating—Floyd’s the most accurate, best defensive/counterpuncher in the sport and one of the top 2-3 best defensive fighters of all time.  I won’t get into what’s going on with his personal life, were all aware of what he did and where he’s headed, but he was born to box and hopefully he get back to doing what he does best sometime this year.  All the fighters on the list are outstanding, in fact I predict that one of those guys on that list will be the best fighter in the world in about 2 years (Andre Ward) but for now, Floyd Mayweather is still the best in the business.

Now onto some of the other awards…..

The “Jersey Joe Walcott” Lousy Referee Award:

Candidates: Russell Mora, Joe Cortez, Joseph Cooper

Winner: Russell Mora

The less I say about Mora’s performance in the Abner Mares vs. Joseph Agbeko fight, the better.   I wrote an article about his performance  a few months ago and I ripped him pretty good. Let’s just say that he won this award going away.

The Pernell Whitaker—Highway Robbery of the Year:

Candidates: Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara, Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III, Robert Helenius vs. Dereck Chisora
Winner: Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara

This was also an easy choice to make.  Now to be consistent, I’ve said all along that while I thought Marquez beat Manny, it was not a “robbery” as many believe it to be.  I put this on the list because there are many boxing fans and experts who believe otherwise. Paul Williams “win” over Lara was a robbery in every sense of the word. I only gave Williams 4 rounds and I was generous because one of those rounds was close and could have gone to Lara. The Helenuis vs. Chisora fight was also a highway robbery, but not quite as bad as Williams vs. Lara.

2011 Trainer of the Year

Candidates: Ann Wolfe, Robert Garcia, Roger Maweather, Virgil Hunter

Winner: Virgil Hunter

This was a tough one because all of them have done a wonderful job and have been good for years.  I’m going with Virgil Hunter because he was with Ward ever since he was a kid and they made it to the top together.  Ward had a great year in 2011 and Virgil Hunter was a big part of his success.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.  Feel free to let me know what you think. If you agree with my picks, or disagree, I’d like to hear from you.

Ronald Cameron

Ronald Cameron is an exclusive feature writer for BOXINGiQ.com

When I sat down to think about how to sum up 2011 for boxing I thought of many words; promise, disappointment, corruption, incompetence and thrilling.  Unfortunately more negative words than positive words, but I am a realist who will never sugar coat things.  I am a liberal, however, if one of my fellow Democrats mess up, I am not going to protect them with blind loyalty.  The same with boxing, one of my loves, and this year there was a lot of messing up.

Trying to be joyous this time of year, let’s start with some positives.  We had some really good match-ups this year.  It began way back in January when Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander faced off as two top 140 pounders (geez that still seems like yesterday).  We had David Haye finally fight a Klitschko, the long awaited third fight of Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquaio, and we saw an American Gold Medalist make a better than strong claim for fighter of the year.  Are we sure this is 2011?

While some of these match ups did not pan out in terms of excitement, they were fights that were on our wish lists, especially the heavyweight fight, and for that we cannot complain.

2011 also saw some very good fights.  Victor Ortiz’s upset over Andre Berto is a fight of the year candidate that momentarily humbled a PROPHET, and earned Victor the top fight in boxing against Floyd Mayweather.  The same night of Ortiz vs. Berto, Orlando Salido upset Juan Manuel Lopez in a thrilling fight, and the best night of boxing in 2011.

2011 also saw one of the best rounds in boxing history as round one of James Kirkland vs. Alfredo Angulo will be etched in the memories of boxing fans for all times.  Round six of Ortiz vs. Berto wasn’t bad either.

In 2011 we lost Joe Frazier, sad, but at least now Joe received some well deserved accolades. Smokin’ Joe is famous for fighting the Greatest over 41 rounds, but gets very little credit for winning at least half of those rounds, and in my opinion, more.

Unfortunately 2011 is also the Year of The Official.  Whether it was a horrendous score by judges, questionable refereeing, or bad stoppages by doctors, 2011 has a bad stench to it. This stench is what initially dropped boxing out of the front pages of sports news in the United States, and into the miscellaneous tab on the most prominent of sports websites.

Some boxing fans may not see this as an issue, but it is not good for this to be happening time and time again in high profile fights.

2011 was also not a good year for the two biggest names in the sport, that only two names in boxing now that are true household names.

For Floyd “I ain’t no Jr.”  Mayweather, it was a terrible year.  His character went into the toilet by continuing to show no class. Burning money, cursing at his father, as well as Larry Merchant, and winning his only fight with a sucker punch, something a guy of his caliber did not need to do.

Let’s assume for a minute I give Floyd a pass for the sucker punch because Ortiz deserved it. I can live with that, although I would think the best fighter in the world would be above cowering to the same level as a dirty fighter (See Hagler vs. Hamsho II).

Let us also assume for a minute all of the shameful acts we have seen from Floyd, is just an act, he is not really like that…or whatever it is defenders of him say, well folks, Floyd was just sentenced for domestic violence, is hitting on his partner also part of his act as well?

I do not want to judge Floyd, because you never know who is capable of doing something. But what I do not get is how people can defend this.  Floyd is clearly who he acts like he is.

It still may be true that he is the hardest worker in the sport and very charitable, but that does not mean he is not the guy we all see.  I mean Hitler was an animal lover. No Floyd is not Hitler, not even close, but is he a guy worth defending?  You can still love him as a boxer even though he is a jerk.  You really can.

What I love is how guys give Floyd a pass for all of his actions, it is just part of his act, but they get them all twisted at Brandon Rios, for mimicking Freddie Roach.  Man how people are funny.

2011 was just as bad for Manny Pacquaio.  He embarrassed himself and insulted all true boxing fans by giving Shane Mosley a fight.  The fight, as expected, was terrible and the fans were cheated.  Manny just shrugs his shoulders and points to Bob Arum with all of these mismatches he has fought in, a fighter of his supposed caliber a puppet?  Sad!

Manny then gets the unbelievable benefit of the doubt on all three scorecards against JMM (there I didn’t say robbery).  Most boxing fans know Manny did not win that fight and was never as immortal as some people were trying to make him out to be. 2012 cannot get any worse for him.

The biggest winners of 2011 are James Kirkland and Andre Ward, two American fighters oddly enough. Kirkland bounced back from his embarrassing first round KO by surviving the impressive onslaught from the very heavy handed Alfredo Angulo.

Kirkland bounced back and dominated the Mexican fighter in his home town for the rest of the fight. Kirkland credits getting back with Ann Wolfe as being able to handle the onslaught, some boxing fans actually wanted to question that and dismiss Wolfe as a trainer, this has to be the biggest WTF moment of the year…  Please, if I am ever that annoying/obnoxious please let me know.  Who the hell are we to tell Kirkland he was wrong? If he wants to credit Ann shut up and let him.

As big as Kirkland was, he did not have a better year than Andre Ward.  Andre capped off his 2011 by dominating Carl Froch and putting himself on the top of the list for fighter of the year.

Ward is all that is right about boxing. Some folks get rubbed the wrong way about his connection to his religion, my message to them is, if an entire political party can hijack religion for all the wrong reasons, why cant Ward use it to give us thrilling fights?

Those who feel Ward is boring are really missing something.  I really wish your brain received Ward in a different way.  He was totally dominant in the Super Six, against boxers who have not been very easy to look totally dominant against, and he carries himself like a gentleman.   This is coming from a guy who does not practice religion at all, so no, it is not because of that I say this about Ward.

He does not act like he is bigger than the sport and not afraid to challenge his “0”, if only everyone had that approach in boxing.

Best of all, an Andre Ward vs. Lucian Bute sounds like it is a great possibility in 2012.   Sign me up for that one.

Fighters like Andre Ward, James Kirkland, Orlando Sallido, Juan Manuel Marquez and Carl Froch made 2011 tolerable against all the bad officiating and prima donnas of the sport.

Let’s hope 2012 gives these guys the spotlight they deserve.

The holiday season is upon us.  No need for cards or gifts but in the spirit of Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa, here are 25 things I want in the sport of boxing.

1. Manny Pacquiao vs.Floyd Mayweather Jr.–and no more excuses from either side.

2. An undisputed heavyweight champion.

3. Fewer titles and sanctioning bodies.

4. Bring back 15-round fights for championship bouts.

5. For networks to make fights that fans want to see every single time, instead of making some fights because of relationships with certain promoters or advisers.

6. A bigger budget for “Friday Night Fights.”

7. An American amateur program that produces Olympic medalists and professional prospects.

8. When HBO and Showtime put on fights, that we get at least two live bouts every time. No more single-fight telecasts.

9.  James Kirkland vs. Miguel Cotto.

10. For Evander Holyfield to call it a day.  Ditto for Roy Jones Jr., James Toney and Shane Mosley.

11. The abolition of rematch clauses.

12. An end to the pointless and boring boxing versus MMA debate.

13. To be able to go to the store and buy a fresh pack of boxing cards.

14. Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Nonito Donaire.

15. Sergio Martinez vs. Bernard Hopkins at a catch weight of 168 pounds.

16. More Adrien Broner and Gary Russell Jr., please.

17. Saul Canelo Alvarez in a serious fight.

18. For folks to quit crying robbery after a legitimately close fight.

19. Brandon Rios vs. Juan Manuel Marquez.

20. Peace between Golden Boy and Top Rank.  Do it for the fans.

21. For Russell Mora and Joe Cooper to never work a high profile fight again.

22. An American heavyweight who: a) can punch; b) can take a punch; c) has a personality; d) is in shape; e) who can sell tickets.

23. Andre Ward vs. Lucian Bute.

24. A breakout year for BoxingIQ.com.

25. For a fighter to use “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees as his ring entrance song just once.

Happy New Year to all my peeps.

Until next time, “THE BOXING PROPHET” has spoken!!!!!

Welcome to another edition of P”N”B, it’s been a rainy week in the desert which is a rarity of its own much like zero controversy in a major title fight.

Saturday night we saw a clean solid and legitimate title bout between arguably the number and number two in the super middleweights in the division.  I am not on the Lucian Bute bandwagon, stating that he is the ”Uno” nor the “Dos” at 168lbs but he is a solid “tres”.

It took a two year long tournament to allow the smoke to clear and left one man standing in the room in Andre Ward only to have a Romanian-Canadian to be awaiting his door step the question will be if the S.O.G.  will answer the call.

As it appears the Golden Boy slide onto SHOWTIME is becoming more prevalent and it seems only fitting that Bernard Hopkins would be calling out Lucian Bute.  I wonder if that is more likely than Andre Ward traveling to the country up north.

As for the final bout of the Super Six Tournament I scored it 117 to 111 for bay area warrior.

I loved how tuned into reality Carl Froch was after the fight he was accurate about having an “off night” even his ring entrance seemed more bland and dry would in turned mimic his performance.

I pretty much saw the best Andre Ward I have seen to date and he worked the balance between offensive and defense beautifully.

Froch’s game plan of winging off shots from the get go seemed ineffective and Ward had the proper remedy to counter the Nottingham fighter.

For those who play the pound for pound game and sure will slurp all over this win I just hope they realize the kid from the stack reppin Oaktown should bump the place of where you had Nonito sitting… right?

My last words on this is that many believe that the fight game is moving towards more globally and even in America more towards a Latino demographic.  However, it bodes very well to see Andre Ward succeed not only as an American in a division more known to be ruled by European fighters but maybe we have the next great African American fighter who in contrast is much different than the predecessor in Lil Floyd.

Folks I know I am chopping up the column but in due time you see or rather hear why so until next time Happy Holidays I am out

Ward vs Froch

2011 has been the Year of Controversy in boxing. There have been questionable decisions, terrible referees, and questionable fouls and as of now we don’t have a definitive answer as to who should be the 2011 Fighter of the Year.  But maybe we will have more of an idea after this weekend’s Super Middleweight/Super 6 Finals showdown between champions Andre “S.O.G. Ward (24-0 with 13 KO’s) and Carl “The Cobra” Froch (28-1 with 20 KO’s).  Before I get into their battle, let’s first go back in time and go over how they got to this point.

Carl “The Cobra” Froch

Biggest wins: Jean Pascal (W UD), Jermaine Taylor (KO 12), Arthur Abraham (W UD)

Mike Tyson—“Confidence breeds success and success breeds confidence!”

If there is one trait that explains Carl Froch, confident is one of the first things that comes to mind when I describe the British native, but don’t let his boldness throw you off because this man can fight.  There’s a difference between being a “boxer” and a fighter and while Froch is an underrated boxer with decent technical skills, he’s is more effective when he stands in front of you in the center of the ring and slugs it out with you. Froch has an excellent chin and he has decent power, especially in his right hand.  He’s unorthodox, yet he has good balance and has rarely been seriously hurt.  Froch started boxing at the age of 9 and he won 2 ABA (Amateur Boxing Association of England) Middleweight titles and he won a bronze medal at the World Amateur Boxing Championship in 2001. He turned pro in 2002 and for the next 6 years he fought all of his fights in United Kingdom against C- level opponents, yet he improved as a fighter and he got the job done.

Now I have to be honest—I didn’t know too much about Carl Froch leading up to the Super 6 tournament. The first time I saw him in action was when he fought then-undefeated contender Jean Pascal back in 2008 for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title. To my surprise, Froch totally dominated Pascal by keeping him on the outside and out-working him with accurate combinations.  Froch won the vacant title that night and he punched his ticket into the Super 6 tournament due to his big win.

In his first Super 6 tournament bout, he faced former Middleweight Champion Jermaine “Bad Intentions” Taylor.  Even thought Taylor had previously lost to Kelly Pavlik twice, few gave the cocky Britain much of a chance against Taylor. After suffering the first knockdown of his career in the third round, Froch weathered the storm and came on late in the fight when he was behind on the scorecards. After winning rounds 9-11, Froch was still behind in the fight and he needed a knockout to retain his title.  Like so many great champions have before him, Froch went out in the last round and went for broke and it paid off for him as he caught Taylor in the ropes and he landed a monstrous right hand that staggered Taylor and he followed it up with some good power shots that sent Taylor crashing to the canvas.  Even though Taylor suffered the knockdown, all he had to do was finish the round and he would have still won the fight (Shades of Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor) but he had nothing left.  Froch closed the show with more power shots and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight with only 14 seconds remaining in the fight. If anyone had any doubts about Carl’s toughness or his heart, he answered many of them by knocking out Taylor.

After winning a controversial split decision over Andre Dirrell in his next fight, he was then matched with one of tournament’s odds-on favorites, Mikkel Kessler in Kessler’s backyard in Denmark. In what was one of the best fights in 2010, Kessler and Froch went to war for 12 rounds and while Froch fought a great fight, Kessler was just a tad bit more active and more effective with his punches and Kessler won a close, unanimous decision over Froch.  This was a slight setback for Froch, but he took it in stride and moved onto his next opponent in the tournament—“King” Arthur Abraham.  Much like before his fight with Taylor, Froch came into this fight as an underdog but on this night, Carl Froch fought the best fight of his life. Froch dominated when they fought outside with his jab and right hands, when they fought in close Froch landed several effective uppercuts and good body shots. Froch won an easy unanimous decision over Abraham, winning every round on 2 of 3 judge’s scorecards.

In his semi-finals matchup that took place earlier this year, he faced the wily veteran Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson, who is no stranger to defying the odds and scoring upsets. After fighting on even terms for the first 6 rounds, Froch took over and dominated the fight and went on to win a comfortable decision over Johnson.  If you look at the quality of opposition, Carl Froch has fought nothing but tough opponents since 2008, so he is battle-tested. That cannot be ignored when discussing this weekend’s battle, but I will get into that later when I talk about the keys to the fight.

Andre (S.O.G. = Son of God) Ward

Biggest wins:  Edison Miranda (W UD 12) Mikkel Kessler (W UD 12) Arthur Abraham (W UD 12)

Evander Holyfield—“I walk by faith and not by sight!”

There have been many athletes who have been very vocal about their religious faith.  Muhammad Ali was willing to go to jail for 5 years because of what his religion meant to him in regards to refusing to enter the military.  NFL stars such as Kurt Warner and Tim Tebow have been applauded and criticized for talking about their faith after games and now we have Andre Ward who calls himself “The S.O.G.” which is short for “Son Of God.” I have NO problem with anyone who talks about their faith. Who am I to judge them for it? There are many sports fans who clamor for “role models” who live clean lives and while I believe parents should be role models and not athletes, if you are looking for a role model who happens to be a boxer, why not a guy like Andre Ward?

This Bay Area native grew up in Hayward, California and as a young kid, he played football.  He started boxing in 1994 and he had a very successful amateur career winning several AAU titles as well as the 2004 Light Heavyweight Olympic Gold Medal.  Ward turned pro later that year, and he was brought along slowly against unknown opponents, yet he was very impressive in most of his fights. Ward is technically sound, who can out-box you with movement and combinations and he can also pin his head against his opponents chest and brawl with you on the inside. And if need be, he can fight rough. Ward is also a very good body puncher and I love the way he throws energy-sapping left jabs to his opponent’s chest in the same manner as pound for pound kingpin, Floyd Mayweather does. He has decent power and when he does score knockouts, it’s usually from an accumulation of punches.

After compiling an 18-0 record, it was time to see if Ward can excel against tough competition, so he was matched against the hard-hitting Edison Miranda in the summer of 2009.  Ward passed this test with flying colors as he out-boxed and out-worked the veteran and he went on to win a comfortable decision over Miranda.  With this win, Ward received his opportunity to enter the Super Middleweight Super 6 tournament and later that year, he was matched against Mikkel Kessler in Ward’s stomping ground in Oakland, CA.  There were many boxing fans who didn’t believe that Ward was ready for such a huge challenge because Kessler was one of the favorites going into the tournament and because Ward hadn’t been in many big fights up to that point, but on this night it looked like Kessler was the one who fought as if the moment was too big for him. Ward dominated Kessler, throwing crisp combinations, good body shots and at times and he man-handled Kessler against the ropes with uppercuts and hooks. Kessler suffered a cut over his right eye (due to a head-butt) early in the fight and never recovered after that and in the 11^th round, the referee stopped the action and the fight doctor took a look at Kessler and decided that the fight could not continue. The fight went to the scorecards and all three judges had Ward winning comfortably.  This was a huge win for Ward who proved to the boxing world that he could beat top level opponents.

After impressive wins over Allan Green and Sakio Beka, Ward was then matched against Arthur Abraham in the Super 6 semi-finals. Ward took command of this fight early as he landed several effective body shots, right hands over the top and some good counter shots as Abraham threw many wild shots that missed.  Ward dismantled Abraham and he won a workman-like decision over the former Middleweight king.  The stage is now set for the Super 6 Finals match-up this weekend between Ward and Froch, so now let’s get into the keys of this fight.

Keys To Victory

Carl Froch

• Be first with your jab: It’s important for Froch to be aggressive against Ward and use his left jab early and often.  If he allows Ward to out-work him, he will be in for a long night.

• Throw short uppercuts: It’s a shot that Ward is open to be hit with, especially when he fights in close. Froch has to be accurate with the punch and can’t throw it wildly because he will be open for counter-shots if he doesn’t land.

• Keep the fight in the center of the ring: I believe this is Carl’s best chance to win because he’s taller, he has a better jab and he needs room to land his best punch which is the right cross.

Andre Ward

• Throw body shots early and often: And I’m not just talking about left and right hooks to the body, I’m also referring to those jabs to the chest that sap his opponents energy. This will help slow Froch down late in the fight.

• Counter-punch when the fight is fought in the center of the ring: Ward is a very good counter-puncher and Froch can be wild with his right hand and catch him with a shot that he doesn’t see. If Ward wants to hurt Froch in this fight, it might be the best way to do so.

• Be physical with Froch when you fight near the ropes: Both of these guys are not afraid to mix it up and fight rough if need be, but when they fight in close, Ward should try to pin Froch near the ropes and now allow him to have room to load up his punches.

RC’s Prediction: Usually I try not to give a prediction in my preview articles, but since this is the last major fight of the year, I’ll make a rare exception.  When I compare fighters, whether it’s before a major fight or when I’m writing a “Top 5” boxing list article, quality of opposition is the number one attribute to me. When you compare these two champions, while Ward is the more skillful fighter between the two, Carl Froch has fought better quality of opponents. Will this bode well for him against Ward this weekend?  I also mentioned that Ward is the more skillful fighter between the two. Will Ward take advantage of his edge in skill against Froch?  Also, I asked the question earlier whether or not the winner of this fight should be considered as the 2011 Fighter of the Year. I believe it depends on how they win. If either guy wins this fight by KO, then I can see the winner being strongly considered.

As for the fight, I see this one as being a very physical, entertaining battle but in this case, superior skills will overcome experience. After 8 hard-fought rounds, the fight will be dead even, but Ward will take command of the fight with counter right hands and he will out-work Froch when they fight near the ropes.  Froch will have his moments, but he will come up short as Ward wins a well deserved unanimous decision over Froch, thus becoming the Super Middleweight/ Super 6 Champion.  Will this be enough to crown Ward the 2011 Fighter of the Year?  I’m not so sure, because after this weekend, he will be in the discussion.  Nevertheless, whether I’m right or wrong about my prediction, this fight should be a good one. Referee Steve Smoger is one of the best in the business, so I expect him to let these two settle this in the ring within the rules. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.

Andre Ward vs. Mikkel Kessler—Full fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txpkSkPHuK4

Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham—Full fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqigfNWlWA8&feature=related

Carl Froch vs. Jermaine Taylor—Full fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq4gv6jjoaE

Carl Froch vs. Arthur Abraham—Full fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzP3jLZG1-M