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Final Mayweather-Cotto Presser Report

Published

12 years ago

May 2, 2012

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Richard Schaefer said all signs are pointing to Saturday's Mayweather-Cotto clash being a ratings smash. The last 24/7 did the best numbers ever for that show, the pre-sales in movie theatres are up 300% from the last couple Mayweather shows, the pre-sales for PPV in Puerto Rico indicate it will be the biggest PPV ever over there, he said at the final presser ahead of the Las Vegas clash at the MGM Grand on Wednesday afternoon.

He cracked me up when he basically said that if you don't trust him, you can go and ask all the people he cited who'd given him the trending stats.

The Golden Boy day to day boss gave a shoutout to Al Haymon, Floyd's advisor, who he noted many people don't believe exists, because he keeps such a low profile. Viewers watching the presser on Ustream didn't see Haymon on camera, so I submit…are we sure he does indeed exist?

Leonard Ellerbe, Floyd's right hand man, then gave Floyd a special gift, a mongo copy of the latest ESPN The Magazine, the “money” issue, which has Floyd on the cover. The Mag puts a boxer on the cover about once every four years, so that is a big deal…Tim Keown wrote a rock-solid feature on Floyd, based on some stellar access he got over a few days' time. There are a couple tidbits in there which will draw some buzz. One involves a woman and a shower, is all I will tease.

WBC chief Jose Sulaiman, who a few months ago said it was no big deal that “beating a lady is highly critical, [but] it is not a major sin or crime” while sucking up to Mayweather, and then blamed a language barrier, spoke. He patted the backs of those that he thought needed their backs patted. Sulaiman spoke like he was getting paid by the second, and I think more than a few people present nodded off as he talked about the Diamond Belt, on the line Saturday, because I think I heard snoring. (Note: I think many of us fightwriters hammer the alphabets too much in comparison to other potential targets, and that makes sense, because our access won't be affected if we slam Sulaiman, while it could be affected if we get too big for our britches against other people. Michael Rosenthal might disagree, lol. Just putting that out there.)

Schaefer then talked about HBO, which is presenting the PPV. He said 24/7 did well on TNT last night, airing after NBA playoffs. He mentioned that the weigh in will run on HBO (3 PM PT-hosted by Jim Lampley), followed by all the 24/7's, with the finale at 8 PM PT, on Friday. CNN, he said, will run 24/7 episodes three and four. Good stuff, no BS, like to see boxing on “free” cable. Good for Schaefer and Golden Boy for pushing this trend. He thanked Richard Plepler and Ken Hershman for making the platforms available and getting the HBO staff to work so hard on the event. Mark Taffet, he said, was not present because he was having a medical procedure on his eye. Kery Davis of HBO then spoke, and busted on Schaefer for stealing his thunder, because he was going to list where HBO content could be found. Davis collected himself, and said Floyd and Cotto have generated about 11 million PPV buys between them.

Oscar De La Hoya gave Schaefer a shoutout, and said that the fight could do numbers close to what he and Mayweather did back in 2007. (You recall that they did 2.4 million buys, a record that stands.) He introduced the Cotto team. Trainer Pedro Diaz spoke in Spanish, with Oscar translating. He said that talking doesn't get you the win. Fists and preparation and execution get the victory. He said a new Cotto (37-2) will be the winner on May 5.

Oscar said Cotto, a four time champion, three division champ, should be undefeated, which would seem to be a slight against Manny Pacquiao. Cotto said that he believes in his team and himself, and will get the win on Saturday.

Leonard Ellerbe spoke, and told Diaz to shut up, that his fighter is the better fighter. He said camp has been the best in 15, 16 years. He said Floyd will be the eight time champ in five weight classes come Saturday.

Floyd then spoke. He sounded groggy, like he had a cold or just woke up. He thanked his team and the media (crafty, that lad). He said Cotto is “a true warrior” and that “this fight had to happen.” He is happy, he said, Cotto is free from Bob Arum so he can do it his way. Floyd said that he will be at his best on Saturday. He thanked HBO, for 16 years, and told Oscar he's working hard on breaking the 2.4 million number. The MGM is my home, he said.

The two men then had a staredown, which ended in grins and then clasped hands. I never care for that level of friendliness, believing that in some cases it speaks to the relationship of the two combatants as more business partners than foes, but I am pretty sure Cotto won't go through the motions, and look to finish the fight, not win it, like Shane Mosley did against Mayweather and then Manny Pacquiao, making it appear like he was in it for the cash.

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Michael Woods

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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