The Boxing News Report 09.13.08

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 09.13.2008

We’ve got a jam-packed edition of the News Report this week as we’ve got updates on De La Hoya-Pacquiao ranging from ticket sales to changes in trainers for one of the two. Plus news on Antonio Margarito’s next fight and his possible rematch w/Cotto next year along with Chavez Jr.'s next bout.



This has been one of those crazy weeks when not only do we have two solid championship doubleheaders coming up this Saturday but also plenty of other news has been trickling in and needless to say it's kept this writer quite busy. Not that I'm complaining of course. Things are good when we get an overload of information and it feels uneasy when we don't have much to talk about. Alas, we have a lot to get to this week and some of that revolves around the upcoming mega-fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. With that being said, let's get right into the news and for those with questions, please feel free to leave them in our comments section or via email ([e-mail])

And now plenty of boxing news….

Manny Pacquiao Hitting L.A. this Sunday

Manny Pacquiao will arrive from the Philippines and land at LAX on Sunday eve to begin training for his upcoming 'Dream Match' against Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao will meet with chief trainer Freddie Roach on Monday and the two will work out a battle plan to get ready for Oscar. Roach plans to study two Oscar video tapes in fights against lefthanders Pernell Whitaker and Hector Camacho.

Team Pacquiao has also asked for a video of Oscar against Steve Forbes.

Roach confirmed today that cutman Miguel Diaz, who has been in the corner of many superstars, will join Team Pacquiao and prepare for "Manny's biggest fight of his life."

Diaz, 70, of Las Vegas said he was thrilled to be asked.

"This will be one of the biggest events I've ever been in," Diaz said. "I will do all I can to help Manny. He's a real warrior who fights with all his heart every second of every round. Every member of Manny's team, including me, is convinced we will win on Dec. 6."

Michael Koncz, advisor to Manny, just returned from the Philippines and said the champ began his roadwork a week ago.

"Manny will be in the gym with me on Monday," said Roach today.


Oscar Won't be Trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Speaking of training camps, with Floyd Mayweather Sr. training Ricky Hatton for his upcoming unification bout with Paulie Malignaggi, this has left zero time for Mayweather to train Oscar De La Hoya. We've heard various reports but the basic principle is that Floyd wasn't sure if Oscar would be fighting in December as no opponent had yet been named so he took up the job with Hatton. Now that De La Hoya has Pacquiao for Dec. 6th, this means that Floyd Sr. won't have the time to dedicate to training Oscar. Oscar has stated that he's disappointed that he won't have Floyd in his corner but has also stated that he should have given Floyd notice that he would be needing him sooner rather than later. Oscar admitted that the older Mayweather has a family to feed to and he doesn't blame him for taking the job.

Now the question is who will become Oscar's trainer. The rumor going around is that Nacho Beristain, trainer of both Marquez brothers is one of the candidates to join the team. Of course this is all rumor as nothing has been stated by Golden Boy Promotions but with Beristain training Juan Manuel, a GBP fighter, the idea isn't too far fetched.

"I'm going to want someone who's experienced. I want someone who has the knowledge of Pacquiao and Pacquiao's style. There's a lot of speculation out there. The truth is, right now I have no idea as to who is going to train me," said De La Hoya.

Seems safe to say that Beristain would fit that mold.

It is expected that an announcement will be made very shortly.


Bob Arum to be Inducted into the American Gaming Hall of Fame

No, not the gaming that you're thinking of – there are no videogames involved here. Instead, Top Rank boss Bob Arum is being inducted into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame at the Red Rock Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Arum, who founded Top Rank in 1966, promoted his first major event at a Las Vegas casino through his promotion of Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks at the Las Vegas Hilton in February, 1978. Arum was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999.

Others to be inducted Tuesday into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame will be the legendary Don King and Emeril Lagasse, the celebrity chef and television personality who has four major restaurants in gaming communities.


Marquez vs. Abraham to be on PPV in the U.S.

Boxing fans who have an interest in the upcoming middleweight title fight between Raul Marquez and reigning IBF middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham will get an opportunity to see the fight on PPV as Integrated Sports will distribute the showdown in the United States and Canada, live from Germany.

Abraham (27-0, 22 KOs), rated No. 2 by The Ring and ESPN, is coming off of his first fight in the United States (Hollywood, FL), stopping Edison Miranda (30-2) in the second round of their June 21st title fight in explosive fashion. Abraham, however, remains somewhat of a curiosity factor in North America in terms of being a serious threat for Kelly Pavlik in a potential unification bout.

The 37-year-old Marquez (41-3-1, 29 KOs), rated No. 2 by the IBF as well as No. 8 by The Ring and ESPN, earned his title shot against Abraham by defeating previously unbeaten No. 1 contender Giovanni Lorenzo (26-0) in their IBF title eliminator on the June 21st Abraham-Miranda card. Marquez, fighting out of Houston, was a 1992 U.S. Olympian who was the IBF junior middleweight title-holder in 1997.

Fans can see the fight at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV, Viewer's Choice Canada, and Bell ExpressVue, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. A replay will be shown that same night starting at 9 p.m. ET.


Larry Hazzard Returns

Larry Hazzard, who was unceremoniously relieved of his duties as commissioner from the New Jersey State Athletic Commission has been given a new life line. Larry Hazzard became a member of the staff of the IBF/USBA this past Monday. He joins the organization in the role of Chairman of Officials Development, Education and Supervision, and Personal Assistant to the President, Marian W. Muhammad.
"I feel absolutely wonderful about this," stated Hazzard. In point of fact he holds the organization in high regard noting, "The IBF, under Marian Muhammad's leadership, is the best sanctioning organization in boxing and I've always wanted to be a part of it. Now that I'm here, I feel like I should have left the commission years ago."
According to Muhammad, the IBF has been approving fights in regions where there are no professional officials, thus making it the responsibility of the promoter to bring in all the officials required for a fight to take place. "Larry Hazzard will arrange 2-to 3-day training seminars for judges and referees in these regions so that the IBF will then have qualified officials in more areas," explained Muhammad. "This will also help the promoters when they hold small, regional or youth championships in deferring some of the costs. In that way, we will also allow for more activity."

Good to see Hazzard who was an excellent commissioner given another opportunity to do some good in the sport.

Paul Williams and Chris Arreola Still Opponent-less for Nov. Bouts

According to BoxingScene.com, promoter Dan Goossen is having problems finding opponents for Paul Williams and Chris Arreola for their November bouts. They're both currently scheduled to fight on a September 25th card with Williams fighting at middleweight. According to the report, Goossen stated that some fighters are pricing themselves out of those fights and with HBO not looking to spend too much on them, the search for opponents continues.

On a related note, Goossen told BoxingScene.com that Paul Williams may still be looking to face Verno Phillips at 154 pounds while still willing to fight at 147 pounds to fight guys like Margarito, Cotto and Mosley. Now that's some old school stuff right there.

In other news

- Kid Diamond and Javier Jauregui will be in the main event of Top Rank's fight card at Buffalo Bill's on Friday, Sept. 19. Tickets at $35 and $10 are available at ticketmaster.com -- first bell is 4:20 pm with the Solo Boxeo Tecate telecast to begin at 5 pm local time....

- Top Rank is putting together a press conference in Los Angeles this Monday as it relates to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nonito Donaire.

- Our condolensces to the family of Dr. Anthony Daly who died this past week. Dr. Daly worked very closely with the legendary promoter Bob Arum. Dr. Daly worked in the care of many of the greatest boxers of the last quarter century, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, George Foreman, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and many others.

- James Toney may possibly face Audley Harrison in the U.K. for his next bout.

- According to ESPN.com, ticket sales for De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao will begin on September 24th and as you can imagine are expected to go fast. We will update you on the date as soon as we get official confirmation.

Weekend Fight Reminder



We've been previewing the fights during the week but here's your friendly reminder that there are two excellent doubleheaders to be watched this Saturday night. First, Showtime will be televising the lightweight title fight between unified champ Nate Campbell and former junior lightweight titlist Joan Guzman. The card will also feature Timothy Bradley's first title defense of his WBC junior welterweight belt against Edner Cherry. The action starts at 9 p.m. PT/ET

Over on HBO PPV, the lightweight class between Joel Casamayor and Juan Manuel Marquez will headline an excellent card in Las Vegas. Marquez is going up in weight to challenge Casamayor for the linear and Ring Magazine lightweight championship. The rematch between WBC 154 pound titlist Sergio Mora and former champ Vernon Forrest will also take place.

Should be a great weekend for boxing and keep it glued to 411mania.com as we'll have a round by round blog of the Casamayor-Marquez PPV on Saturday night.