Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto Face Off

Published

13 years ago

April 4, 2012

Mayweather-Cotto-Poster “One of the greatest pure boxers who ever lived” will meet “one of the best fighters of this era” on May 5. That is how HBO's Max Kellerman described the showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto on the Tuesday night debut of his Face Off program.

Kellerman brought the 35 year-old Mayweather and the 31 year-old Cotto, two of the sport's top five draws, into a studio and had them sit across from each other, while he queried them about their take on the May 5 clash.

Kellerman's first launch went to Cotto. “How do you beat Mayweather?” he asked.

“We're going to figure it out in training camp,” the Puerto Rican future Hall of Famer said, while Mayweather fixed his eyes on the 37-2 boxer, who last gloved up in December, when he stopped Antonio Margarito in NY.

He will be the first man to beat Mayweather, he said. This made me think about talking to Cotto when the duo made it to to NY for their press tour. I asked him about the matchup, and he said something along the lines of that he would do the best he could. I pressed him: Will you do the best you can, or will you definitely beat Mayweather?

“I guarantee a win,” Cotto told me. I tend to put a lot of stock in how a fighter speaks before the bout; does he talk about doing the best he can, giving a great effort, which is what we hear quite often when a boxer is in over his head…or does he evince true confidence that he will have his hand raised?

Remember when Juan Manuel Marquez underwhelmed with his conviction before he took on Mayweather in 2009? “It's going to be a very difficult fight,” Marquez said. “It's a very hard fight, but mentally I'm preparing myself to win and I feel I can beat Mayweather.”

Many times before Shane Mosley fought Floyd Mayweather, he said stuff like, “It's going to be a great fight,” and “Every fight has its own significance, but this would be a great win. It would definitely be a feather in my cap if I beat Floyd Mayweather.” Not it “will be a great win” but “it would be.”

I seek true conviction in the voice and mannerisms of fighters leading up to a fight in which they are seen as underdogs, so during “Face Off” I was on the lookout for Cotto's level of belief in self.

Mayweather said he didn't know how Cotto will fight him. “I don't know,” the 42-0 sweet scientist said. “But he must know that I'm not like no other fighter. I can give it and I can take it.”

No shortage of belief in self there, eh?

Mayweather said he considers Cotto unbeaten, because he thinks Antonio Margarito cheated against Cotto in their 2008 fight, and that Cotto was drained at a catchweight against Manny Pacquiao in 2009. Floyd disarmed Cotto a bit by pointing out his good taste in watches, as he was wearing a piece by Cartier. Cotto grinned, and Kellerman then brought up the “Money” persona. The boxer-entertainer said when he's out and about he likes to entertain the people, but at home, he acts like a normal person. Floyd then asked to check on the score of a game he bet, featuring “Ohio (State against Northwestern, in basketball, on Feb. 29) in the first half,” for which he laid down $100,000, he said. (Ohio State led 39-29 at the half, by more than the four points Floyd gave the house, giving Floyd the W.)

Cotto said Floyd can act however he wants to, and gamble if he wants to.

Cotto said inexperience killed Victor Ortiz against Mayweather and that he thinks Floyd is still in his prime. Can he out-box the master craftsman, or will he need to rumble and brawl his way to a win? He will need to use all his skills to beat Floyd, he said, as Mayweather asked for a phone so he could check a game he bet on.

“Gotta watch my money,” he explained. (Not sure if this is pure persona, or an indication that Mayweather is a problem gambler, who is too focused on his bets.)

He explained how the bet worked to Cotto, and said, “So (if I win) I walk away with $86,000 today,” he said, as Cotto's eyes grew bit wider. “If he lived in Vegas, he'd do the same thing,” Mayweather said. Is it dangerous to live in Vegas, the host asked. “No, not at all,” Mayweather said. (I guess there are people who exist who end up ahead of the house when all is said and done, but the odds aren't in Floyd's favor…we shall see down the line if the gambling bug bites him, or he is master of that domain.)

The Margarito subject came up, and Floyd asked Cotto point blank if he thinks Margarito used loaded gloves when they fought in 2008. “I don't know,” Cotto said, but allowed that his face was busted up more than he might've expected. Floyd concurred. Mayweather said he thinks if he did what Margarito did, he would be banished forever from boxing. “Should he have been banned for life? Absolutely,” Mayweather said.

Cotto said the Mayweather fight, not his revenge tussle with Margarito, is the biggest fight of his career. He said he won't do anything different or special to prepare for Mayweather.

Mayweather was asked why Cotto is the third biggest PPV star, behind him and Pacquiao. Why? Because he earned it the hard way, not by getting a catch-weight advantage. He said Pacquiao piggybacked on his popularity but said he wasn't bothered by Manny calling him a chicken, saying he is ducking him. “I'm OK with my legacy, with or without Pacquiao,” he said. “Floyd Mayweather is happy with what he's done in the sport.”

Cotto said it doesn't bother him that people fixate on Mayweather-Pacquiao. Mayweather, asked if it is hard to work up anger towards Cotto, said, “He's a quiet killer.” Asked for a prediction, he said, “Tune in. I can't say what's going to happen. May 5 you got the super welterweight champion versus the pay per view king. May 5th, blockbuster.”

Cotto in closing, said, “I'm going to be prepared enough for Floyd, and I'm going to work really hard.” Not what I want to hear. My gut tells me that Cotto, a reasonable man who has never trafficked in illusion when I have talked to him, knows that Mayweather is on a different level than him, and deep down thinks that he cannot win on May 5. He's right. Nobody beats Floyd right now, not unless Mayweather goes up to 160. Then, we can talk…

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

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Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

TSS-Salutes-Thomas-Hauser-and-his-Bernie-Award-Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Mekhrubon-Sanginov-whose-Heroism-Nearly-Proved-Fatal-Returns-on-Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.

He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.

Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.

“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)

Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.

During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”

He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.

He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.

On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.

Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.

If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.

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