The Boxing News Report 03.29.08: Saturday Edition
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 03.29.2008
We've got updates this week on Ricky Hatton and Junior Witter's next bouts. The numbers from the Pacquiao-Marquez PPV as well some interesting news on the Calzaghe-Hopkins fight set for April 19th.
Hello fight fans, and welcome to another edition of the Boxing News Report. We've a week full of announcements as I've sent our new NY/NJ area boxing writer Jonathan Yaghoubi on a trek of press conferences, from the WWE/Mayweather to Pavlik-Locket and even the most recent Judah-Mosley presser. Needless to say there's quite a bit going on and though all the hype seem to be going towards Floyd Mayweather's appearance at WrestleMania this weekend, there's a whole lot more to talk about so let's get to it.
Marquez-Pacquiao II Earns 400,000 PPV Buys
To say this was one of the most highly anticipated rematches in recent memory, is certainly an understatement and they have the numbers to prove it. Their March 15th rematch in Las Vegas, Nevada drew 400,000 pay per view buys which helped in generating the 20.2 million dollars that the fight drew. These numbers make it the richest prizefight below the welterweight division and incidentally means that Juan Manuel Marquez has brought in more money that Barrera or Morales did in their confrontations with Manny Pacquiao.
Oscar De La Hoya stated that, "I'm truly excited to know that Marquez has become the biggest Mexican draw in the United States and you don't have to look any further for proof than the 400,000 pay per view buys.
"It's an honor to have someone with the popularity, charisma and modesty that Juan Manuel Marquez brings and we'll do what we can to get him the respect that he deserves."
After being in the shadows of Barrera and Morales, it's great to see someone with the talent of Marquez finally get the recognition he's been looking for throughout his career.
GBP Preparing a Full Boxing Weekend for Forbes vs. De La Hoya
Golden Boy Promotions has previously mentioned that they were looking on putting on a weekend full of activities leading up to the Forbes-De La Hoya fight on May 3 in Carson, CA. Well we just got word that the night before De La Hoya's return, GBP will present "Noche de Boxeo y Musica" (Night of Boxing and Music) on Friday, May 2 at the Home Depot Center's Tennis Stadium in Carson.
The fights will feature 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo and junior middleweight Julio "Baby Face" Garcia in separate co-featured bouts which will air live on Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo" (8 p.m. ET / PT – delayed on the West Coast).
After the bouts, musical group Los Tucanes de Tijuana will perform their music for fans in attendance at 9 p.m. PT.
"Noche de Boxeo y Musica" tickets, which include an exciting night at the fights plus the musical performance, are priced at $100, $60 and $30, and will go on sale this Friday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m. PT, and may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets, including www.Ticketmster.com and Ticketmaster Charge-by-Phone at (213) 480-3232. Tickets are also available for sale at The Home Depot Center Box Office, open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT, and on event days. Event suites, group packages and VIP packages are available by calling 1-877-AEG-TICKETS (1-877-234-8425) or by visiting www.aegtickets.com.
Robert Guerrero and Carina Moreno to March at Cesar Chavez Festival
IBF featherweight champ Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero and "WBC Female Fighter of the Year" Carina Moreno will participate in the "15th Annual Commemorative March and Festival" celebrating the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez.
At 10 a.m., a rally will take place at San Jose City Hall, followed by a march to the Center of Employment Training (CET) facility (located between Virginia and Vine St. in San Jose). Then celebrate at a festival filled with multi-cultural foods, live music and entertainment.
Hatton's Next Bout Finally Announced
A press conference was held this week to announce that Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton will make his return to the ring on May 24 in Manchester England against Juan Lazcano. On that same card, junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi will face off against Lovemore N'Dou. The event will take place between 6-11pm local time as to appease the fans in attendance so you can expect the fight to either be tape delayed or shown early in the day here in the States.
It seems that overt 51,000 tickets have already been sold; hey those Brits love "The Hitman" and Calzaghe for that matter so you can expect a sold-out and rabid crowd that night.
It seems a potential showdown between Hatton and Malignaggi rests on their performances that evening and it's already being said that a rematch with Mayweather (should he get by De La Hoya again) may be in the cards should Hatton win his next two fights. The fight could take place in London, England where promoters look to sell out the 100,000-seat Wembley Stadium; site of SummerSlam '92.
If you thought the fans were bezerk in Vegas, imagine what it would be like in London!
Junior Witter to Fight on May 10
Hennessy Sports has announced that the WBC junior welterweight title fight between Junior Witter and Timothy Bradley will take place on the same May 10th bill as Carl Froch's WBC super middleweight final eliminator against Denis Inkin. Witter will be making his third defense of his WBC title against his number one WBC mandatory contender in Bradley. The fight will jointly top a huge night of boxing from the Nottingham Arena. The undercard will include the highly anticipated English title fight between John Murray and John Fewkes.
"It will be great to showcase my talent in front of a nationwide audience on ITV1," said Witter. "The great British public will now be able to see the fighter who Ricky Hatton is avoiding. I‘m defending my WBC title, the most prestigious belt in boxing. A title Hatton has never been able to win; in fact he got knocked out fighting for the WBC title in his last fight. The fight will be broadcast in the UK on ITV1 with further fights from the undercard broadcast on ITV4.
No National Anthems for Calzaghe-Hopkins?
It appears that the chorus of boos that accompanied the U.S. national anthem during the Hatton-Mayweather fight in December has caused a stipulation to be added to the Calzaghe-Hopkins bout that will eliminate the singing of the national anthems. Talk about repercussions right? I was in attendance for that fight and I must say, it got pretty ugly in there so I can understand the logic.
I guess promoters want to make sure that no brawls take place at the event though Calzaghe is from Wales and not England as is Ricky Hatton so who's to say if the fans have a different perspective on the whole thing.
"I think the anthems have been knocked on the head just in case for this fight," Calzaghe said. "At the end of the day, it's right because you can't go booing their national anthem, I think that's wrong.
"We have an American referee so booing their anthem would be a bit like suicide really. I'm not saying the Welsh fans would do anything wrong but you have to be careful. I think it's definitely the right decision. You can't go booing anthems. Imagine if a few thousand Americans did that in Cardiff, it would all kick off."
Credit: BoxingScene.com
Pacquaio-De La Hoya a Possibility
There were rumors a few months back about the possibility of a Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya confrontation but was quickly dismissed by Freddie Roach, trainer of Pacquiao. I spoke to Freddy a few weeks before the Pacquiao-Marquez fight and in an interview he told me that he didn't think the fight would be possible based on the size differential. Now it appears as he has become open to the idea of such a match.
In an interview this week, Roach mentioned that Golden Boy Promotions is having trouble getting Mayweather to sign on the dotted line for a rematch with De La Hoya so Roach says it's possible for a fight at 147 (welterweight).
"I have been told that they (Golden Boy Promotions) are having a tough time getting (Floyd) Mayweather to sign for the rematch," Roach said. "Oscar wants Manny. Manny was about 145, 146 lbs the night he fought (Juan Manuel) Marquez."
Though it sounds like an exciting fight in theory, this would seem like a huge mismatch. De La Hoya, though past his prime is still one of the best welterweights of his era and a fight against a smaller Pacquiao wouldn't really do much for him anyway. Pacquiao would likely lose his punching power and some of his speed fighting at welterweight and De La Hoya would be too hard a puncher for him. Let's hope this one doesn't materialize as I'd rather see the Pac-Man take on fighters such as Juan Diaz, Nate Campbell, Joel Casamayor or even Ricky Hatton.
Credit: BoxingScene.com
Talks for Jones Jr. – Anderson Silva Begin
Well, well, well, looks like negotiations for a possible fight between Roy Jones Jr. and MMA star Anderson Silva have begun. A few weeks ago, the news broke out that Silva wanted a piece of Jones, now that he has basically cleaned out his own division in the UFC.
According to NBC Sports, talks have begun about pitting the two in a boxing match. The fight would have to be sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and Silva would have to not only get the UFC's permission but also apply for a boxing license. The fight could take place between 170-185 pounds.
In speaking to NBC Sports, Don King Productions director of PR, Alan Hopper made the following statement:
"Roy likes the idea and is up for it," Hopper said. "It's being discussed. Roy will only agree if the match takes place under the rules of boxing, and UFC would have to clear Silva's participation."
Now wouldn't this be a tantalizing fight?
Random Quips
-Wladimir Klistchko will take on 31-1 American Tony Thompson in his next bout scheduled for July in Germany.
-Miguel Cotto has been seen limping due to an ingrown hair in his knee but Cotto stated that it won't be a problem come fight night on April 12.
-Floyd Mayweather will take on the Big Show this Sunday at WrestleMania XXIV.
Well that's all we have for you this week fans, stay tuned next week for an interview with Edwin Valero and Antonio Margarito. We also have March's pound for pound rankings coming at you in the upcoming days.
