[PilotMan]

First week of February, 2007

Fight Night -

This is one busy week of fights. There are a number of big name fights as well as an important fight involving Melvin Horne. I did get a message that Betillio Sanchez is interested in a fight with Lee Drydon. Both of these guys have fought almost 3 years ago. The fight was before I took Drydon under my wing and the fight was a draw. What makes things interesting is that Sanchez has grown as well. They are willing to pay me a little over 200k. The money is nice, but with over 6 million in the bank, it means less. It would pay for 5 or 6 weeks of training though. I was just looking at him as a possible fight. The problem is that the fight is in two weeks. It isn’t really a problem though. All of my guys are in good shape, and Drydon is healthy from his last fight. I signed the deal.

The new rankings came out. Here is where we stand:

Melvin Horne (L) #3

Lawrence McFarlane (M) #7

Omar Acevedo (L) #34

Lee Drydon (FY) #60

Andreas Ruelas (M) #85

Ismael Gutierrez (LH) #96

Glenn Leeds (W) #117

Tomoaki Wantanabe (W) #146

Tonight, Melvin Horne is fighting the 14^th ranked fighter Luis Valdez. Valdez is trying to grab a win after losing two consecutive fights. Horne is newly ranked the #2 contender to the title. If he wants a title fight then he needs to win this fight. Valdez has a good chin and an accurate punch. Horne is going to need to take the fight to Valdez. He has been training well and is in great form. I want him to press the action, however, he has never had great stamina so he needs to be careful not to run out of steam. The oddsmakers have Valdez as the favorite at 3/5. Horne is listed at 11/8.

A very long list of great fights this week:

Featherweight Fighter of the Year Kevin Kelley #5 57-4-2 (36) v. Ricardo Sanchez #7 30-3-0(19)

We get our first look at Kelley. Will his chin hold up to the puching power of Sanchez? Will Sanchez be able to absorb the punishment that Kelley is likely to dish out? Both men fought Armando Medina in their last fights. Sanchez lost, while Kelley won on points. For this fight Sanchez is the favorite at 8/11, while Kelley isn’t getting respect at 6/5.

Former PI Fighter Niall Beaumont #101 8-1-0(3) v. Bill Allison #102 9-17-1(1)

Allison ½, Beaumont 7/4

Good luck, Niall.

Former Bantamweight Champion #2 Job Reyes 23-1-2(14) v.#5 Sandro Macias 20-6-3(14)

Job starts up the road to redemption. He has never fought Sandro, but Macias has been around. He has been ranked in the top 20 for over 4 years. He hasn’t won in his last two fights. Both fights were against good men, but he does have a win over Calos Zarate. Zarate is the one who stunned Reyes last month. Reyes is the heavy favorite at 1/4, while the odds are 11/4 on Macias.

Former Welterweight Champion #4 Wilfredo Benitez 60-10-1(33) v. #3 Oscar De la Hoya 38-2-0(27)

These two fought last year with De la Hoya winning by a KO in the 9^th round. De la Hoya lost his next fight in a surprise decision against Javier Quirino. Both men are great fighters and this could really go either way. I would think that the winner could get a good look at a title shot. De la Hoya is the favorite at ½., while Benitez goes off at 5/3.

Former Welterweight Champion #5 Manuel Castillo 27-3-1(8) v. #6 Jose Victor Lopez 26-1-0(17)

Another battle at the top of the welterweight division. Lopez has been on a tear and his only defeat was almost two years ago against Oscar. While Castillo recently lost in his title shot with Jose Napoles. Lopez packs a huge punch while Castillo is a commanding boxer. Castillo is the narrow favorite at 4/5, while Lopez is at 11/10. Personally, I like Lopez.