Boxing Info (please stick)

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

http://www.boxingtalk.com/

Floyd Mayweather Jr: Judah has one week to sign for fight!
By G. Leon

"I should have stopped him last time when his daddy pulled me off of him!"

November 21, 2005 - Yesterday afternoon undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr told Boxingtalk.com, "These guys are trying to talk about the money, but Zab knows. How can you talk about getting 50-50 with a millionaire when you're a thousandaire? How can a thousandaire talk millions with a millionaire? Deals like this are negotiated between top dogs, Bob Arum, Don King, Floyd Mayweather Jr and HBO. Zab has no say so. Zab is the undisputed undercard champion."

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

from espn.com
Middleweight
Andre Ward W6 Darnell Boone
Scores: 59-55, 58-56, 57-56
Records: Ward 7-0; Boone 6-3-1

Rafael's remark: Ward, the United States' only gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics, is probably happy that HBO didn't show the fight, or even highlights, of his bout from the Mayweather-Mitchell undercard. The reason: Ward was knocked down and nearly out in the fourth round while struggling to a victory that some at ringside believe could have been a draw. Between this knockdown and a near-knockout loss earlier this year, it seems obvious that Ward doesn't take the best punch. That's not a good sign for the 21-year-old prospect.
:td i thought ward was gonna be the next superstar in boxing

dang...i thought Ward was the NEXT star.....

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

Http://www.boxingtalk.com

Andre Ward wins controversially
Portland undercard report

Mike Walters @ ringside

November 19, 2005 - Andre Ward W6 Darrell Boone... 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward got knocked down in round four and struggled to a points victory over Darrell Boone, 6-3-1, in the chief supporting bout for Mayweather-Mitchell. Ward carried the official scorecards by counts of 58-56, 59-55 and an unrealistic 57-56. He improved to 7-0 but will have some explaining to do.

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

Dan Rafael's Notebook - ESPN.com

Judah-Mayweather: Undisputed welterweight champ Judah and junior welterweight titlist Floyd Mayweather Jr. are on course to meet in a mega fight April 8 (HBO PPV) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Rival promoters Arum and Don King met this week in Las Vegas and are very close to making a deal for the fight, Arum told ESPN.com.

"King and I had a very good meeting, but we have to discuss things with the respective camps," Arum said.

"He has to talk to Judah and I have to talk to Mayweather. If the camps are reasonable, the fight will happen. King and I have agreed to terms. King and I came to fair deal but the terms are subject to the camps."

The fight is subject to Judah successfully defending the title on Jan. 7, when he faces mandatory challenger Baldomir of Argentina. Judah, who won the undisputed 147-pound title from Cory Spinks in 11 months ago, defended it in May with an easy third-round knockout of Cosme Rivera.

Mayweather, No. 1 in the ESPN.com pound-for-pound rankings, made his welterweight debut in a non-title bout last month, easily dominating Sharmba Mitchell en route to a sixth-round TKO.

Arum said that it was possible that Judah's titles would not be at stake because neither fighter wanted to pay the multiple sanctioning fees that go with a fight with three organization belts on the line.

He said he and King are discussing the possibility of a contract that would allow Judah to come in at 148 pounds, one over the welterweight limit.

However, Judah also holds the Ring magazine world championship. There are no sanctioning fees involved in defending that title, so Arum said it was conceivable that Judah could vacate his alphabet belts and defend the Ring belt.

There is precedent for that sort of move. Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson each vacated sanctioning organization light heavyweight titles last year in order to face each other only for Tarver's Ring title.

Arum and King, whose rivalry has raged for more than 25 years, have rarely co-promoted fights. However, a Judah-Mayweather bout would be their third major co-promotion in the welterweight division.

Arum and King joined forces for the first Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran fight in 1980 and for the Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya unification fight in 1999, which is the biggest grossing non-heavyweight fight in history.

"I would rather co-promote with Don King than just about anyone in boxing because he is a professional," Arum said. "Once we do the deal, Don is a pleasure to work with."

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=2253063

Rematch might be second only to Wright-Trinidad

The last major fight of the year, the Dec. 3 Jermain Taylor-Bernard Hopkins rematch, performed like a champ on pay-per-view.

HBO reported Thursday that the fight, which Taylor won via close unanimous decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, generated 410,000 domestic pay-per-view buys and $20.9 million in gross revenue. The breakdown of buys were 245,000 on cable systems and 165,000 on satellite dishes.

2005 HBO PPV Fights

Fight Date Buys
Wright-Trinidad May 14 520,000
Tarver-Jones III Oct. 1 415,000
Taylor-Hopkins II Dec. 3 410,000
Hopkins-Taylor I July 16 370,000
Gatti-Mayweather June 25 360,000
Morales-Pacquiao March 19 340,000
Barrera-Peden Sept. 17 110,000
Barrera-Fana April 11 75,000


The announced number is a preliminary figure that is expected to rise once all the buys are tallied.

The rematch is the third-best selling pay-per-view boxing event of the year, trailing only Winy Wright's dominant decision against Felix Trinidad in May (520,000 buys) and the third Antonio Tarver-Roy Jones fight from October (415,000 buys). Those were also HBO PPV events.

"With their first fight in July, Taylor and Hopkins established a great middleweight rivalry," HBO PPV's Mark Taffet said. "We're pleased that the pay-per-view audience recognized that with their support of the rematch."

Once all the buys are accounted for, Taylor-Hopkins II probably will surpass Tarver-Jones III, Taffet said.

"We have every expectation that Taylor-Hopkins II will be the second-highest grossing pay-per-view event of the year when the dust settles and the numbers are fully reported," Taffet said.

The first Taylor-Hopkins fight on July 16 generated 370,000 buys and $18.7 million.

Taylor-Hopkins II will be replayed Saturday night (HBO, 10 ET) along with a live broadcast of middleweight Winky Wright vs. Sam Soliman. If Wright wins, he is the next logical big-name opponent for Taylor.

HBO produced and distributed eight pay-per-view events this year totaling 2.6 million buys. A ninth fight, the Vitali Klitschko-Hasim Rahman heavyweight championship bout scheduled for Nov. 12, was canceled because of an injury to Klitschko.

None of HBO PPV's fights, however, crossed into the 750,000-plus stratosphere.

"This was a very interesting year for HBO PPV," Taffet said.

"We exceeded expectations on virtually every fight that we distributed," he said. "Yet, the year went by without a true mega fight by historical standards. It's our hope that the promoters and the fighters, while pleased with the revenues that were generated this year, will also recognize the importance of having compelling fights featuring the best fighters in the sport live on HBO to set the stage for the million-buy fights we've all grown accustomed to."

Just goes to show you that if two good boxers get in the ring, people will pay to see it.

[Complex]

Judge releases Rahman from contract with King

Judge releases Rahman from contract with King

Promoter Don King's iron grip on the four heavyweight title belts took a huge hit Friday when a U.S. bankruptcy judge invalidated Hasim Rahman's promotional contract with King and allowed Rahman to sign with rival promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.

Rahman, who was elevated from interim titlist to full WBC titleholder upon Vitali Klitschko's knee injury and subsequent retirement, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 4, citing debts of more than $5 million (including $2.1 million to the IRS).

King still promotes the three other titleholders -- Chris Byrd, John Ruiz and Lamon Brewster -- although his hold on Byrd is tenuous because they are fighting in court.

Despite a strong objection from King, Nevada District U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce A. Markell threw out Rahman's contract with King and validated a proposed contract with Top Rank that was before the court.

“ We succeeded in everything we wanted to do before the court. It was a knockout for Hasim Rahman. ”
— Steve Nelson, Rahman's manager

"They prevailed. Top Rank has the contract. But be careful what you wish for," King attorney Judd Burstein told ESPN.com on Friday night. "Don King will still be one of Rahman's largest creditors, and we will file another motion with the court next week asking that a significant portion of his purse [for an upcoming fight with James Toney] be held by the bankruptcy court."

Rahman manager Steve Nelson said that Rahman got what he hoped for -- to be separated from King, with whom he has had a poor relationship in recent years, and to be with Arum.

"We succeeded in everything we wanted to do before the court," Nelson said. "It was a knockout for Hasim Rahman. The two big issues were that the court officially rejected the Don King contract. That was expected. The battle was going to be Don's objection to us completing a new agreement with Top Rank. We recommended a new promoter for Rock, which we had to get court approval for. The result is that Hasim Rahman is now promoted by Top Rank and that he can go on with his career and prove he is the best heavyweight in the world. Top Rank is back in the heavyweight business."

In addition, Nelson said that Rahman, 33, beat King on two other issues: Markell refused to assign Rahman's managerial contract to Monarch Sports, which is run by Carl King, Don King's stepson; and King's request to have a trustee oversee Rahman's finances was denied.

"Don is very upset, I'm very upset. I don't understand why this happened," Burstein said. "That's the court's decision, but Don is very unhappy."

Markell, taking into account the fact that Rahman preferred to be with Top Rank over King, decided that the offer from Top Rank was better and instructed him to take it.

Top Rank was one of Rahman's 20 or so creditors. Part of the deal is that the $150,000 debt, from an advance Top Rank gave Rahman prior to the Nov. 12 fight with Klitschko being canceled, will be forgiven.

King's deal with Rahman, according to Burstein and Nelson, called for a $500,000 minimum purse per bout but with no element of profit sharing. King had also offered $3.5 million for a mandatory defense against Toney, a fight that is expected to happen around March.

Arum, who signed Rahman through 2009, promised a minimum purse of $1.65 million per bout against 70 percent of the profits from any promotion. If Rahman loses to Toney, he will still get a minimum purse of $500,000.

In addition, Top Rank will give Rahman a $500,000 advance so he can operate during bankruptcy.

Much to King's surprise, and to the surprise of the boxing industry, Top Rank beat King for the right to promote Klitschko-Rahman at a purse bid, putting the company back in the heavyweight business in a serious way for the first time since the heyday of George Foreman's 1990s comeback.

"When I made that bid on Klitschko-Rahman, it was because they were the two most recognized names in the division," said Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank and Arum's stepson. "Now Klitschko is retired and Rahman is the most recognized name in the division, and he has a title. When we were promoting the Klitschko-Rahman fight, the heavyweights got back into our blood. Now, we just want to make good, old heavyweight fights."

It was during the promotion for the Klitschko fight that Rahman and Top Rank got to know each other. Nelson said he and Rahman wanted to be with Top Rank, in part, because of how well they were treated.

"Top Rank treated us like gentlemen and with total professionalism," Nelson said. "There will be disagreements, but they will be normal disagreements. With Don it was emotion and vilification. When there were differences, they were dealt with irrationally. If there is a disagreement now, we don't anticipate being hit with a lawsuit, which is kind of where the final straw came from with Don.

"When we said we wouldn't accept what Don wanted after the Klitschko purse bid, we tried to negotiate with him. He wanted 50 percent of Rock's purse. There was no negotiation. When we said no, they filed suit the next day, and the day after that Rock filed for bankruptcy. We don't anticipate that kind of relationship with Top Rank. Top Rank is excited about being back in the heavyweight business. I think they're looking forward to promoting Rock. We have a promoter who cares and wants us to win. Don didn't care because he had both sides of the fight all the time."

DuBoef said King made a serious strategic error in going so hard after Rahman's purse for the Klitschko fight.

"He made Rahman a free agent by forcing him into bankruptcy," duBoef said. "I wasn't poaching on King's fighter. There was an asset in bankruptcy and we felt we could maximize the revenue for ourselves and for Rahman. Simple as that."

Nelson said the main reason they wanted to leave King was because they felt certain demands in the King contract were unfair.

"One of the biggest problems that we had with the Don King contract is the fact that they wanted us to waive all of our rights to seek relief on prior breaches of contract," Nelson said. "Going back as far as the second Lennox Lewis fight [in 2001], there were still open issues. So that was an issue that was insurmountable. We also have with Top Rank a profit-sharing deal. We have 70 percent and they have 30 percent. King didn't offer any sort of profit sharing. King did offer us $3.5 million for the Toney fight but we're taking the position that we will do better under the Top Rank profit-sharing deal."

King could still gain the rights to promote Rahman-Toney at a purse bid, which has been called for Dec. 20 in Cancun, Mexico, where Rahman will also receive his title belt.

A purse bid is called for when the two sides are unable to make a deal for a mandatory fight. The promoter offering the most money for the bout wins the right to promote it.

Usually, a mandatory fight gives 75 percent of the money to the champion and 25 percent to the challenger. However, the WBC ruled this week that Rahman-Toney would be a 60-40 split. Rahman (41-5-1, 33 KOs) had asked for the traditional 75-25 split and Toney, co-promoted by King and Dan Goossen, asked for a 50-50 split.

"If Arum wins the purse bid, he won't take a piece of the purse," Nelson said. "And we think in the long run Top Rank can generate more revenue for us than Don King can."

This isn't the first time Rahman has switched promoters under a hail of controversy.

After knocking out Lewis to win the title in 2001, he left promoter Cedric Kushner to sign with King, who wooed him with a duffel bag full of cash.

Nelson said nothing like that would happen again.

"This," Nelson said, "is the promotional contract that will take Rock to the end of his career."

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

Good deal for Rahman. Probably also good for boxing as a whole. King loses some leverage here.

Now all we need is to rid the division of Chris Byrd and Ruiz (for good this time) and get some fresh faces in there.

[Complex]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

Good deal for Rahman. Probably also good for boxing as a whole. King loses some leverage here.

Now all we need is to rid the division of Chris Byrd and Ruiz (for good this time) and get some fresh faces in there.

Big...thanks for checking out the info, I was beginning to think no one cared. I just wanna have some boxing prescence here. The sport does have some good things going on.

[utexas]

Re: Boxing Info (please stick)

I care, keep'em coming!!!

[Complex]

WBC orders negotiations for Taylor-Wright title fight

WBC orders negotiations for Taylor-Wright title fight

The chess game being played to bring about an eventual fight between middleweight champion Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright took another twist Monday when the WBC ordered the sides to commence negotiations for the mandatory fight.

After Taylor defeated Bernard Hopkins in a Dec. 3 rematch to retain the Ring magazine title, as well as three sanctioning organization belts, he hoped to return to his hometown of Little Rock, Ark., for an April defense. After that, Taylor said, he would look to fight Wright in the summer.

However, Wright (50-3, 25 KOs) has campaigned loudly to face Taylor next, even though his subdued points victory against Sam Soliman on Saturday night did little to enhance the marketability of the fight.

Nonetheless, the WBC said if no agreement between Taylor promoter Lou DiBella and Wright promoter Gary Shaw is reached, a purse bid would be ordered for Jan. 20 in Mexico City.

The promoter who bids the most money wins the right to promote the fight. Taylor, as champion, would be due 75 percent of the winning bid with the remaining 25 percent going to Wright, the challenger.

Wright would certainly get a bigger cut than 25 percent under a negotiated deal, so it remains to be seen if he would settle for a purse bid.

Regardless, Wright said he was happy that a fight with Taylor drew one step closer Monday.

"I am extremely pleased with the WBC's decision to proceed with the mandatory title defense and I look forward to meeting Jermain head-on in the ring in my next fight," said Wright, the former undisputed junior middleweight champ who made his middleweight debut in May with a thorough thrashing of Felix Trinidad.

"Everyone knows that after every fight, I have always asked for another big fight. No breathers for me," Wright continued. "I only want the biggest fights against the best fighters because I am a competitor and I believe a champion should act like a champion. Now we are going to see who the best middleweight really is -- Jermain Taylor or me."

DiBella told ESPN.com that he hoped something could be worked out between the sides that would allow Taylor (25-0, 17 KOs) to fight in April before facing Wright, but if nothing can be they would consider Wright.

"We'll commence negotiations and see what happens," DiBella said. "I doubt we will reach an agreement but we could. If we don't and it goes to a purse bid we get the majority of the revenue, so it will be interesting to see if Winky is OK with fighting for 25 percent. But we're not going to give up the [WBC] title to avoid Winky Wright."

DiBella said he thought it was "idiotic" for the fight to happen next because it needed some more time to brew into a major event, reasoning that a Taylor fight on HBO in April would be a big help.

"I don't think it's out of the question that we could fight Winky next but I think it's idiotic and stupid," DiBella said. "Winky's fight on Saturday night didn't help Winky at all. He didn't look good and he only drew [4,682] fans. The fight with Jermain is not ready yet. After Winky's performance Saturday night, who's buying that on pay-per-view? I don't think it has been built sufficiently into a good performing pay-per-view event. If it does happen next, it would have to be on HBO, and I'm not sure the money is there to make it happen. I'll have to talk to HBO about that. We prefer to do the fight when it makes more sense, but we'll pursue the negotiation and see what happens."

Ideally, DiBella said he would like to work something out with Shaw that would delay the fight until the summer.

"We're not saying that we won't fight Winky next, but I think we can do something that works for everyone," DiBella said.

[Complex]

EA Announces Gatti and Ward For Fight Night Cover

EA Announces Gatti and Ward For Fight Night Cover

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)---Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS - News) throws a killer combo in this top-rated sports game franchise. EA announced today that Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward will serve as cover athletes and spokespeople for EA SPORTS(TM) Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft. Both boxing champions renowned for their intense rivalry in the sport will be featured on the cover of the highly anticipated boxing videogame scheduled to come out in February 2006. EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for the Xbox 360(TM) and PSP(TM) (PlayStation®Portable) systems will showcase an exclusive cover athlete to be unveiled at the world's largest annual technology tradeshow, the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2006.

[Complex]

D.Hopkins stays undefeated with win over Feliciano

Hopkins stays undefeated with win over Feliciano

Philadelphia's Junior Welterweight prospect, Demetrius Hopkins remained undefeated stopping local favorite Jesse Feliciano at 2:23 of the 4th round. Hopkins who improves to 22-0-1 (9), controlled the fight from the beginning, catching Feliciano twice in the first round a round that Feliciano was glad to survive. Feliciano who took the fight with a only a few days notice, was very game as he took a beating over four rounds that left those in attendance wondering how he was able to stay on both feet. Feliciano was amazingly able to surge back during the 3rd round and won the round with his constant activity that overwhelmed Hopkins for the short moment. Hopkins answered back with an inspired fourth round that saw Feliciano taking huge shots and still standing almost until the end, finally succumbing to a left hook, straight, and right uppercut that prompted immediate stoppage at 2:23 of the 4th round. Hopkins said he hopes to get a title shot sometime in 2006 and was amazed at Feliciano's ability to take so much punishment.

[Complex]

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http://www.fightnews.com/


The odds on the fight have done an about-face at Sportsbook.com, the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet. In the last 48 hours, Valuev has gone from a slight underdog to a minus -150 favorite to seize Ruiz belt. The Quietman is now +120 to retain his title.

[Complex]

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs Carlos Molima



Some of the luster came off the record of wunderkind Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (23-0-1) on Friday night as he could only manage a generous draw against Carlos Molina (9-1-1) in a six-rounder in Monterrey, Mexico.

[Complex]

Valuev wins controversial WBA heavyweight title

http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AjzPQyceJvTtVx87c0k9mNyUxLYF?slug=afp-boxgerusaruswba&prov=afp&type=lgns

BERLIN (AFP) - Russia's Nikolay Valuev beat America's John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight title but the fight ended in controversy when the points decision was jeered and the members of the American's camp became involved in an ugly brawl.

The 32-year-old Russian, fighting for a world title for the first time, became the tallest (7ft) and heaviest (330 pounds) champion of all time.

But his win, awarded by a 114-114, 116-113, 116-114 decision, came amid huge controversy.

Many in the arena thought Ruiz, the defending champion, had done enough to retain his title and keep alive his dream of a unification fight with Hasim Rahman, who inherited the WBC version after Vitali Klitschko was forced to retire last month.

Ruiz's coach Norman Stone was outraged by the decision grabbing the belt and screaming at Valuev's camp: 'You suck' as he was led from the ring by security staff.

Promoter Don King said that he would take the Russian, known as the Beast from the East, to America for his next fight.

"He's ready and we want America to know that he's coming," said King.

"But John Ruiz believed he had won the fight."

Ruiz was a man in a hurry even sprinting into the ring to face his giant opponent.

The height of Valuev restricted his movement around the ring and the lumbering Russia was often picked off by the nimbler American who constantly scored points with neat combinations executed close in.

As a result, Valuev, bidding to become the tallest world champion of all time, needed treatment to a cut below his left eye between rounds.

Valuev boasted a 43-0 record before Saturday and gamely inched his way back despite lacking a killer blow.

He rocked Ruiz with a brutal left midway through the eighth round.

By the 12th and final round, both men were hanging on.

Ruiz buried another left into the face of the Russian who was warned for holding but Valuev saved himself in the last round with a right-left combination that just swung the decision his way.

However, the result of the fight and its aftermath will have done little to improve the reputation of a heavyweight division rocked by a series of poor fights.

Side Note...

After the bout, Valuev was holding up the belt and Ruiz' trainer/manager Norman "Stoney" Stone grabbed it out of his hands, sparking a fistfight between Stone and one Valuev's cornermen. Nobody was hurt in the scuffle, but blood was noticable on both afterward.