The Boxing News Report 06.13.08

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 06.13.2008

A star-studded Boxing News Report has a lot of updates on what Mayweather's retirement affects various fights, fighters and championship belts. Also, will a Hatton-Pacquaio fight come to fruition? The parties involved speak. All this and more on this week's edition!



Hello again fight fans and welcome to this week's Boxing News Report. Back from a 2-week hiatus due to a ton of work, we have it jam packed with updates on everyone from Oscar De La Hoya to Ricky Hatton. We had a big fight weekend last week with a doubleheader on HBO and Showtime which both delivered so we head into a relatively quiet weekend in comparison. On the other hand, with Mayweather's retirement announcement, the repercussions of his decision have affected more than just himself. De La Hoya, Hatton, Pacquiao, Cotto, Margarito - all of these guys in some form or another have been affected by the decision and hell, even Andre Berto is feeling the effects, albeit in a good way. On a side note, Kelly Pavlik looked awesome last Saturday night in blasting out poor Gary Lockett while Juan Manuel Lopez impressed the hell out of me by crushing Daniel Ponce De Leon. Kudos to Sergio Mora for upsetting a lackluster Vernon Forrest for the WBC junior middleweight title and I think the welterweights should take notice of Paul Williams' destruction of Carlos Quintana...wow!

So what do you all think of the new Boxing News Report logo?

Well enough of the questions, let's get right to it with this week's news report.


Oscar Says: "One More Fight"


Photo by Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions

With Mayweather's retirement, where does that leave Oscar's two remaining fights for 2008? Well according to the "Golden Boy" himself, who spoke to Reuters during a recent book signing this week, the decision has been made to fight just once more instead. Oscar wanted to fight Floyd in September and have a farewell fight in December but now that Floyd is gone from the sport, Oscar is looking for one big fight and calling it a career. The rumor mill had Oscar fighting on September 20th, but maybe, just maybe he'll await the winner of Cotto and Margarito which would mean that he'd have to push his final fight back a few months to give the winner enough time to recover. Pacquiao has also been mentioned as a possibility by Oscar.

While talking to Reuters, De La Hoya stated, "Manny Pacquiao is calling me out. He can jump two or three weight classes and challenge me. There's an interesting fight happening, Miguel Cotto against Antonio Margarito, that should be interesting to watch. Maybe I can get the winner, we'll see.

Now that's what we're talking about!

UPDATE: Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has just revealed to ESPN.com that Oscar De La Hoya will fight on December 6, 2008 on HBO PPV for his final bout. They are looking at Miguel Cotto should he get passed Antonio Margarito next month.

Hatton's Team Declines De La Hoya Fight



Junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton will not step in for retired Floyd Mayweather in a big money bout against his promoter Oscar de la Hoya in September. Hatton's father and business manager told BBC Sport that "The Hitman" is focused on a November fight with IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi. Team Hatton, meanwhile, is relishing the possibility of a clash with Manny Pacquiao, should he win the WBC 135lb crown against David Diaz.

In my opinion a fight against Oscar would do monumental numbers, but should he get a clash with Manny Pacquiao, the international appeal would be huge, not to mention a better fight stylistically!


Manny Pacquiao Becomes #1 Ranked P4P by The Ring Magazine



In another story that revolves around the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao has been elevated to the #1 spot on The Ring Magazine's pound for pound list. According to The Ring, Mayweather has formally notified them that he would be not only retiring but relinquishing his Ring Magazine welterweight title – something we really appreciate Floyd!

That being said, Manny is now your #1 guy and should be receiving his belt shortly. On a related note, the WBC has given Manny Pacquiao until after his June 28th bout with David Diaz to decide if he will keep or relinquish his junior lightweight belt.


Berto-Rodriguez for WBC Welterweight Belt



Yup, another story that has been affected by Floyd himself. I tell you, this guy had the welterweight division wrapped around his finger. With Floyd relinquishing his WBC welterweight title, the upcoming June 21st bout between Andre Berto and Miguel Angel Rodriguez which will be televised on HBO Boxing After Dark, will now be for that belt.


David Haye Gets his WBC Heavyweight Ranking



We reported a few weeks ago after cruiserweight champ David Haye announced his move to the heavyweight division that he and his team had lobbied the WBC to give them an official ranking since they were their champ at 200-pounds. We had only heard from the WBC to inform us that they would look at things closely and announce his ranking shortly.

Well this week we received word that David Haye has been officially ranked at #5 by the WBC, whose belt is being held by Samuel Peter. Peter currently has a title defense scheduled against Vitali Klitschko.

UPDATE: ESPN.com has just reported that David Haye will fight on November 29 in London against a top-10 ranked heavyweight.


Forrest-Mora Rematch?



According to Boxingscene.com, Vernon Forrest has informed them that he has exercised his rematch clause for Sergio Mora's WBC belt. Mora who outpointed Forrest last Saturday night has been calling out Oscar De La Hoya and even Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. when he appeared on 3 More Rounds. Even though the WBC has already inserted Sergio Martinez (hey, Sergio vs. Sergio!) as the mandatory challenger, Forrest fired back by saying that he has the right to the rematch.

Talking to BoxingScene, Forrest talked about how making the weight affected his performance as he had trouble losing the last couple of points, saying he felt drained in the fight. Forrest claims the rematch will take place in September.

UPDATE: I spoke to Jeff Wald, promoter of Sergio Mora today and he confirmed that there IS a rematch clause in the contract and that they will certainly aknowledge it and stand by it. On the flip side, there is no rematch date set nor have discussions begun as of yet.


In Other News

- Julio Diaz (34-4, 25 KOs) will face unbeaten David "El Torrito" Torres (20-0, 13 KOs) in a 10 round bout on Wednesday, June 25, from the world famous Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills, Calif., live on ESPN2 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT.

- The family of Jimmy Garcia recently received the money from the life insurance policy of the WBC, which was finally paid to Jimmy's young daughter. On May 6, 1995, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jimmy Garcia, after having serious problems during the weigh-in, fought and lost to Gabriel Ruelas. He was taken to the hospital and passed away on May 19.

- According to ESPN.com, a hot bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and lightweight champion Joel Casamayor will go down on September 13 in Las Vegas on HBO PPV. Chris John, Jorge Barrios and Jesus Chavez could be on the undercard.

- GBP CEO Richard Schaefer also told ESPN.com that on September 6, "The Baby Bull" Juan Diaz will get it on with Michael Katsidis who are both coming off world title fight losses. Talk about a barn-burner!!!

- Shane Mosley will finally return to the ring on October 11 on HBO PPV against an opponent TBA. Golden Boy Promotions is hoping to pin down Sergio Mora for a fight with the WBC title on the line at the Staples Center. (Credit: ESPN.com)

- Paul Williams and his team want the winner of the Margarito-Cotto fight next.

- Richard Schaefer recently told The Ring Magazine that he'd like to put on a mega-fight between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao after their next bouts – assuming they've won. Pacquiao told The Ring that he wants to do it.

- Winky Wright is calling out Oscar De La Hoya while Floyd Sr. says it won't happen.

- Joe Calzaghe has rejected a fight with Kelly Pavlik saying that a fight with Roy Jones Jr. makes more sense to him at this point. He also commented that he would be too much for Pavlik in a fight at 175 pounds.


That'll do it for this week's news but stay tuned as we keep you posted on everything Floyd Mayweather and the fighter's he's affecting.

Till next time, see you at the fights!