In Boxing News: Calzaghe Triumphs, Cotto Kos, Pacquiao Biopic

In Boxing News: Joe Calzaghe Takes World by Storm

It was a big, beautiful boxing weekend, just like the fight game likes it, just like the fight game needs, and everyone HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Fox, Telefutura  laced up gloves and joined in the fray.

The undisputed superstar of the weekend’s battle royal is the Welshman Joe Calzaghe, who put on a virtuoso display of the sweet science of bruising, a clinic on what it means to box, all the while giving our boy Jeff Lacy an god-awful licking. You gotta feel for Lacy, he’s such a decent cat, but you can’t help but feel good about Calzaghe. They’re both such class acts. Here in the States, what with Jeff’s loss, things are a little somber, whereas the British, as you might expect, are going bonkers. Olympic silver medalist Amir Khan hailed Calzaghe: That’s definitely a fight I can take inspiration from. Just by watching it I’ll learn a lot. It was a brilliant fight. Frank Warren said Joe Calzaghe’s victory over Jeff Lacy was the “best performance I’ve ever seen of any British fighter.” And all the major British media, the BBC, Telegraph, The Times, et cetera saw fit to praise their boxing champ. By contrast, the view on this side of the pond is a bit more elegiac. The Tampa Tribune reports that loss is a big blow to Lacy’s career. Jeff’s promoter, Gary Shaw, said, “I would have bet my house that this fight would not have looked like that fight in the ring. Obviously, I would have lost my house. Calzaghe is riding high and has called out Antonio Tarver. The Magic Man said, “Let me take care of my business on June 10 and then I’m going to get revenge on Calzaghe for what he did to my homeboy. Calzaghe has proven to be the best super middleweight in the world. He looked really good against Jeff and it’s time for him to make more money than he’s ever made before On a slower boxing weekend, Miguel Cotto’s defense of his WBO junior welterweight title against challenger Gianluca Branco would have been bigger news than it was. Cotto retained his crown when Branco, who put up a good fight but was taking a beating, finally packed it in at 49 seconds into round number eight. Cotto is a very good, but not yet great, fighter, but he continues to improve, looks more complete, with each and every outing. Should be interesting to see how he does against a boxer who not only hits but hits and moves and hits and moves and moves and hits (Malignaggi). That should be quite a show In other boxing news, Vic Darchinyan retained his featherweight title with a one-punch knockout of Diosdado Gabi at 2:42 of round eight on ShoBox, Sam Soliman TKO’d Raul Munoz in six at Pechanga, and Indonesia’s Chris John decisioned Juan Manuel Marquez in Boreo … The on again/off again ring career of heavyweight Kirk Johnson is officially off again. Johnson suffered a dislocated and possibly fractured left kneecap in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-round bout against Javier Mora of Anaheim. A native of North Preston, Nova Scotia, Kirk Johnson was leading on the cards of two of the three judges when in he fell on to his back in the seventh. He was down, but not out, but also not up, nor about to get up. Kirk couldn’t move. The officials agreed that Mora opponent stepped on Johnson’s foot causing him to fall. The injury made Johnson’s left leg lock, according to Dr. Carusillo, the attending ringside physician. That’s what happens when there is a dislocation. Johnson was removed from the ring on a stretcher. No word yet on who he’s fighting next FLT Films International’s Rose Flaminiano had gotten sick and tired of the movies. Her success at producing films was not great, unless you consider B-movie great, yet her success with real estate was better, so cinema, for long three years, was on the back burner. One day Rose was watching TV and saw her countryman Manny Pacquiao fighting Marco Antonio Barrera and a light bulb went on in her head. It was not Manny’s victory that caught my attention, she says. What impressed me was the sight of people milling around him and then raised him up. Manny was all blood, sweat, and tears while waving to the crowd. I had this surging feeling within me. Rose and Manny met and it was like a meeting of minds. She told Pacquiao she wanted to do a film of his life and he liked the idea but had some doubts. Manny told her, May laban pa ho ako kay Morales sa January. Paano ho kung matalo akong muli (I have a fight with Morales in January. What will happen if I lose) Rose replied, Win or lose, paninindigan ko ang pangako ko sa yo (I’d stand by my word), and signed the champ to a three-picture contract. The first film will be Pacman’s bio, but with an actor playing the boxing great. The other two films will star Manny Pacquiao himself as himself, with major stars, yet to be named, in supporting roles.

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