ADN

Just for the record, RJJ blasted Tito, lol...

Here are a few matches coming up in the near future:

Antonio Tarver vs Chad Dawson (11 October 2008)

This one should be good, although I suspect that Chad's tendency to let himself get hit by some good shots may come back to haunt him...However, if he and Tarver both fight their style of fights, hard to see Tarver winning this one...Dawson has the advantage of handspeed, plus his combinations and body punching are exceptional...This one will go all 12, I say 8-4...

Peter vs. Klitschko (11 October 2008)

Yawn...The doctor in a blowout...Although Vladimir is exceptional, the rest of the division blows...I'll watch this one, but only to see the doctor deliver his knockout with the left hand, one of the most beautiful punches I've ever seen...

RJJ vs Joe Calzaghe (8 November 2008)

Hmm...This may be the sleeper fight of the year...On my list of all time great pound for pound fighters, I cannot rank anyone above Ali...The man transcended his sport like no other...Unlike other sports, boxing is a sweet science...It's fundamentals have remain relatively unchanged...That's neither here nor there, just to set up what I'm about to say...

RJJ is the best fighter to have ever been in a ring not named Ali...Period...There has never been a more sound and total fighter in the ring than him...Tarver and Johnson are Roy's age, but only got on the horse later on in the picture, when father time came after Roy's gifts...You are hard pressed to find a fighter in their prime that could best Roy Jones Jr in his...

Sadly, Roy is no longer in his prime...That usually makes for a more entertaining fight than usual...After some humbling losses, Roy has won his last 3 fights after loosing the previous 3...He is back at his most comfortable weight class, and last I saw, looked very good...An old Roy Jones Jr. is still better than most fighters...If Joe comes out in the first round and is or seems like he may be in awe of Roy's star, he will get punished...He needs to be able to bring it and bring it hard and fast at least through the first 8 to have a chance...Otherwise...Roy will probably win a UD in 12...

1337

Kumicho, you watching the Forbes/ Berto fight?....interesting match up......Sugar Shane comin' up.

Oh yeah....Calzaghe's a deceptive fighter, he appears to 'slap' rather than punch but guys move backwards when he connects...go figure. :)

Edit: Holy shit!! Shane busts Mayorga up with a 12th round KO!!! excellent!!

I did watch the fight NF...I'm a big, big boxing fan...It's my favorite sport by far...I'll watch any fight usually, unlike other sports where I'm only interested off the top by my favorite teams...

I thought the Berto fight was better than the Mosley fight...I like Shane, but my problem with him is that he always fights....I don't know how else to put it, but he fights 'small'...I realize he's not in what would be considered his natural weight class, but I dislike watching him get roughhoused in fights...At any moment, it looks like he's gonna be picked up off his feet and thrown out of the ring...I give him kudos for knocking out Mayorga, however...But obviously Mayorga is who you would want on your side if a bar fight, not really an exciting fight otherwise...

Berto on the other hand, is a born fighter...His natural talents plus his training; he can be as good as any fighter...Forbes was a stout opponent, never been down, never been out, but he was clearly trying to keep that steak in tact towards the late rounds when Berto started to impose his will on him...

As for Pacquiao vs DLH...Man, I've wanted to count Oscar out before...He's got this whole pretty boy thing going...But when he wants to, he can kick your ass...I think Manny wins this one, but he better be determined to fight his fight...If he fights Oscar's fight, he will get caught and dropped...Again, another one of those matches where the guy can't get caught up in the shine of a Superstar...Kick his ass, and get on with your life...

Pavlik vs Hopkins (18 October 2008)

I'm not sure what to make of this fight...On one hand, you would be hard pressed to vote against BHop...But on the other hand, while everyone was waiting on Pavlik to loose, he just kept on kicking people's ass...He's younger, fresher, but also moving up in weight...I'm holding back on this one till I rewatch a few more of KP's fights to see if weaknesses will show up that Hopkins can exploit...

Kumicho wrote:Pavlik vs Hopkins (18 October 2008)

Man, what a fuckin' joke..! I could have NEVER imagined that Pavlik would get dominated like that...Dude got a lesson in fundamentals..! If he can take this ass whipping in earnest, he will emerge a more dangerous fighter than ever...Boxing, fighting, martial arts...They are all the same...Bruce Lee put it all together...Adapt and know your opponent...Be like water...Obviously Hopkins has a lot less to fight for than Pavlik...You don't like pride and ego take you into the ring...I think he learned that most of all...

So moving on, I reckon Ricky Hatton needs to demolish Malignaggi tonight.
Anything less and he should retire, time to put up or shut up.

NotFunny wrote:I think you're missing one?

Manny Pacquiao v Oscar De La Hoya, Dec 6th.

Me thinks 'Golden Boy's' heading for a serious ass kicking :)

;)







........and Ricky Hatton wants to fight this guy!!?

Hatton would get nailed...Oscar quit on his stool..?!?!? Unbelieveable...What a joke man...

Pacquiao era begins with De La Hoya demolition

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao unequivocally established himself as the finest fighter in the world Saturday.

But he accomplished an even more stunning feat when he not only defeated Oscar De La Hoya but battered him into retirement with a shockingly one-sided victory in their welterweight bout before 15,001 at the MGM Grand Garden.

De La Hoya, the 1992 Olympic gold-medal winner and a professional world champion in six weight classes, was hammered as he never was in 44 previous bouts before trainer Nacho Beristain mercifully asked referee Tony Weeks to halt the carnage after eight one-sided rounds.

The fight ended any debate whether Pacquiao or light heavyweight Joe Calzaghe deserves the top spot in the mythical pound-for-pound race, but it also sent a one-time legend into retirement.

De La Hoya, who was taken to a local hospital for a precautionary examination, never in his illustrious career had absorbed such a beating. Pacquiao’s hands were far too quick and, despite the fact that he was moving up from lightweight, his punches were much too hard for the Golden Boy to handle.

It was clear by the third round that De La Hoya was going to need a miracle to reverse the pummeling he was taking.

Pacquiao displayed every punch in the arsenal, raking the Golden Boy with straight lefts that nearly closed De La Hoya’s left eye and stunning him with hooks, jabs and uppercuts.

It was so savage of a beating that it was hard not to feel sorry for De La Hoya. At the end of the bout, a thoroughly beaten De La Hoya trudged across the ring and met his one-time trainer, Freddie Roach.

“You’re right,” De La Hoya said to Roach, who had prepared Pacquiao brilliantly. “I don’t have it any more.”

Pacquiao was a 2-1 underdog, largely because he was challenging a man who had fought at super welterweight or middleweight exclusively for the last seven-and-a-half years. Pacquiao had only fought once as high as lightweight and had fought 75 percent of his bouts before Saturday at super bantamweight or lower.

But Pacquiao unofficially weighed a pound-and-a-half more than De La Hoya – 148½ to 147 – and was clearly stronger and better Saturday.

“The media, the press is never wrong,” Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. “You all said it was a mismatch and it was a mismatch.”

De La Hoya didn’t officially announce his retirement, but his business partners, Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley, spoke of his career in the past tense. In his brilliant career, De La Hoya took on most of the greatest fighters of his generation, but never before was he beaten as cleanly and decisively as he was by Pacquiao.

Not when he was knocked out by a brutal shot to the liver by Hopkins in 2004, not when he dropped a split decision to then-pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year and not when a tactical mistake cost him a victory against Felix Trinidad.

“Pacquiao was phenomenal,” Hopkins said.

Pacquiao was never threatened by De La Hoya’s vaunted left hook, negating De La Hoya’s best chance of winning the fight.

It was something Roach had worked tirelessly on in the gym and something he unwaveringly told the world that Pacquiao would do.

“Taking the left hand away was a key,” Roach said. “We took Oscar’s left hand away from him and once we did that, the fight was over.”

Pacquiao called De La Hoya his idol and said he was honored to have had the opportunity to face him. But he didn’t spare his idol any pain, working his plan like a hired gun.

“It was nothing personal,” Pacquiao said. “I just came to do my job.”

He was far more impressive against De La Hoya than Mayweather, who retired in June as the widely acknowledged best fighter in the world. Pacquiao declined to say whether he’d

be willing to fight Mayweather, saying it was up to Arum to decide.

Arum said he wouldn’t discuss a potential opponent for Pacquiao until after the holidays, but it’s clear he’s sitting on a gold mine. With De La Hoya expected to wander into retirement, Pacquiao will take his mantle as the game’s biggest draw.

Fights against Mayweather, if he comes out of retirement, and Ricky Hatton are going to be massive events that would likely guarantee each men eight-figure paydays.

Arum wanted none of that talk, preferring to revel in one of the most satisfying victories of his nearly 50-year promotional career.

“Next to the night when George Foreman won the heavyweight championship of the world by knocking out Michael Moorer, this is it,” Arum said. “These are my two most memorable fights as a promoter.”

This was the boxing rite of passage that has become all too familiar over the years. It happened to Joe Louis against Rocky Marciano, to Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes and to Julio Cesar Chavez against De La Hoya.

A younger, faster and better man snuffed out the star of one of the game’s all-time greats.

“Hats off to Manny Pacquiao, because he was incredible,” said Mosley, who has two wins over De La Hoya. “Remember what Oscar has done, though. He made this sport a great sport, and created this so that all of you people could come to see a great event.”

But De La Hoya didn’t have that one last great fight left and was forced to accept a beating as the final act of a Hall of Fame career.

“It happens to everyone,” said legendary trainer Angelo Dundee, who assisted De La Hoya in camp.

Dundee had trained Ali, Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard, among many of the game’s greats, and had seen this scene before.

“I thought Oscar had what it takes to beat Pacquiao, but this happens when you let the guys fight the fight,” Dundee said. “You just have to give the other guy credit.”

Yes you do.

Oscar De La Hoya is the past.

It’s Pacquiao’s time now.

Source: Yahoo Sports