[PilotMan]

Mauro Martinez ran kept his undefeated record intact with a unanimous decision win over Buddy Bionas.

In the welterweight match, it was a beauty. Oscar de la Hoya scored a 10 round split decision win over Sugar Ray.

I took in 70k from bets on these two fights. Whooohoo!

The slap in the face came when a challenger for the Welterweight Title was announced to be Jose Napoles, the fighter who lost in his first chance against Sugar Ray Leonard. Not the fight that I was hoping to see.

A number of big dealings this week. I received a phone call from a management group claiming to represent middleweight fighter Gene Melvin. Melvin is currently ranked #15 and has a record of 31-4-0(18), ahead of McFarlane who has fallen to #17 with inactivity. Anyway, they want a fight, and are willing to pay 180k for it. The shocker is that the fight is in two weeks! Holy Crap! Melvin certainly appears to be a fighter that could be another stepping stone to the top, but two weeks. I talked with Lawrence and he said that he felt cool, and let me tell you he looks cool too. I told them to get the paperwork ready because we were going to box. That sets up the 3^rd fight for my stable set for the first week of August. Melvin has a strong body and good defense, but his offense is lacking. No power punch and an average chin could hurt him against an offensive minded fighter like McFarlane. That is going to be one busy week.

Later, I talked with Ismael, and he gave me the impression that he was ready to go, and this time with someone a little bit harder. I told him that I would pick his fights not him and not to worry about who he was fighting because he was probably a better fighter.

I called Chris Nickels trainier. Nickels is ranked #119, and has a record of 2-4-3(0). Not very impressive, but the payout should be a little bit better than his last fight. Not the challenge that I think that he wants, but considering his last fight, this should do nicely. The fight is going to be the third week of September. Nickels has good defense and a quick punch. He does not have a good chin or a strong punch.

Former Light Heavyweight World Champion Jeff Ellery is fighting this week. He is ranked #7 and has a record of 20-10-1(12). He has lost his last couple of fights and is fighting Cliff Harris. Harris is 22-6-0(11) and is ranked #8 in the light heavyweight division. Harris has been hanging around the top ten among light heavies, and has won his last 3 fights. Odds are favoring Harris at 4/7 while Ellery is at 6/4. I like Harris as well.