Mayweather/Marquez less than a week away!

Only three days to go until saturday nights big fight between the undefeated "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather was the pound4pound king before he "retired" back in December 2007...and Marquez is the current number 2 pound4pound best fighter just under Manny Pacquiao. Am I excited about this fight? Yes....I look forward to watching most fights...I am looking forward to this one quite abit even though I am expecting to be unhappy with the result. I am a big fan of Marquez....but as tough as he is and as good as he is...I just don't think it will be enough to beat Mayweather. Mayweather is the bigger fighter and holds all the advantages. He's taller...he's heavier...he's stronger...he's faster...he's younger...my god what else could you ask for?? The only "X-Factor" in this fight is Mayweather's long layoff. It's the longest he has been out of the ring and will most definitely have a little rust...it's only natural. I would be so happy to see Marquez win this fight I just cannot see it happening. Still it was a smart decision for him to take the fight. For one thing he is making his biggest payday ever....and even if he loses....so what? He lost to the best fighter in the world...just like everyone else. No shame in that. But you can be sure of one thing....Marquez will be in there trying to make a fight of it and pressing the action. I don't see Marquez as a welterweight...if he loses the fight he really needs to go back down to lightweight and rule the division there. His last fight was a fantastic war with Juan Diaz....Diaz is not a power puncher at all and yet he seemed to stun Marquez a few times....which leads me to believe there is a good chance he gets TKO'd on saturday night by Floyd. Mayweather can easily outbox him to a decision but I can see Marquez getting caught with a counter coming in....much like Hatton did...and then Mayweather jumping all over him to finish the fight....probably in the later rounds. It will be sad to see.
Marquez really is a great warrior though...I am one of those that believes he won both the fights with Manny Pacquiao...so he should make this a very entertaining fight.
I was thinking that Mayweather would have had a super fight with Pacquiao first but he did the right thing in taking a smaller fighter in his first fight back....work off the ring rust...wait for Pacquiao to TKO Miguel Cotto in November...then make the mega fight with Mayweather/Pacquiao next spring.

I also wanted to mention that the one and only James Toney made another comeback last weekend with a second round TKO over Matthew Greer. Toney got down to 217!! Still fat but much better than the 230 from his fight before that. Look out Klitschko's ha ha ha! Actually my dream match is James Toney vs. Nicolai Valuev...5'10'' against 7'1''....great stuff! Who wouldn't want to see that??

On another note super middleweights Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward both won their fights this last weekend setting up their showdown in November in the Super Six Tournament. Both had soft opponents and both scored early TKO's as expected. In my opinion Arthur Abraham should win the tournament but the Kessler/Ward fight is one I am really looking forward to watching. I'll discuss more on the tournament as it gets closer.

Rumble at Rama IX

Last night I was again an official at Casino Rama for the Rumble at Rama IX card....and I have to say this one might have been the most action packed night yet. Four of the six fights did not reach the final bell, and the main event which went twelve...you didn't want to see end anyways!

The first fight was a little puzzling to me. It was a 4 round super middleweight bout between Stephan Boyd and Pedro DeMelo. As soon as I heard this fight was made I thought, what is DeMelo's camp thinking? Why would you take a fighter in only his second professional fight, and give him to someone like Stephan who is a slick boxer with 11 pro fights? Now I watched Pedro's pro debut at Rama's last show and he did impress me in his first fight....but I knew he had no shot against Stephan. Stephan may not be a devastating puncher but he is a very slick boxer with clever defence....and I should know I've sparred with him several times before. Stephan controlled the fight from the first bell with the left jab...which seemed to frustrate DeMelo....then Stephan picked up the pace landing good body shots and his right uppercut was deadly accurate. Pedro's left eye was starting to close as the fight progressed and Stephan sensing a KO went in for the kill in the 4th round, abandoning his usual laid back style, and the referee waved off the fight. There was no standing 8 count rule in the fight so John Wylie gave Pedro every chance to hang in there and finish the last round but he stopped it just at the right time.

The second fight was a 4 round welterweight bout between Felix Mercedes (2-0) and Dan Caron making his pro debut. Again, abit of a mismatch in my mind for a kids pro debut. Caron was overpowered in the first round and knocked out. Mercedes showed good patience in trying to get his guy out of there, and good power. The fight wasn't long enough for me to get a real good impression of him but he is one to keep your eye on in the future.

The third fight was another 4 rounder in the light middleweight division between Hamilton's Justin Fountain and London's Frank Abbiw. I was suprised in this one, to be honest before the fight I was thinking Abbiw would take a decision. I thought Abbiw was the better boxer with more power but Fountain hurt him at the end of the first round and watching Abbiw in the corner I wasn't sure if he was going to come out.....he seemed exhausted. To his credit though Abbiw did come out and won the second round in my mind when he almost dropped Fountain with a huge left hook....I don't know what kept him up. But Fountain recovered and outworked an exhausted Abbiw over the next 2 rounds to take the unanimous decision. At one point I thought Abbiw would just fall over on his own....not sure if he just didn't train very hard for this fight or what.

Next up was the heavyweights. Canadian Heavyweight champ Greg Kielsa took on American Kevin Montiy. This fight was disappointing. In the first round Kielsa was actually showing some good aggressiveness and taking the fight to Montiy. Kielsa landed some solid shots and I had a feeling it would not be going the distance but in the second round there was an accidental clash of heads which left Montity with a bad cut over his left eye. The doctor advised the fight be stopped and the fight was ruled a technical draw....which Montiy should have been pleased with since he didn't have to leave with the loss that was most likely coming.

The co-feature of the night was Steve Molitor facing Dario Azuaga from Argentina in a featherweight 8 rounder. Azuaga was a late sub which usually means it won't be a long fight. I knew it was going to be a quick one when Azuaga stepped into the ring and I saw a soft body...I don't remember the last time I've ever seen a soft featherweight.....actually I don't think I've ever seen that. His punches were awkward and he was always off balance...the guy had 92 pro fights you would have thought that somewhere along the way he would have learned some balance.....which leads me to believe the record was somewhat suspect. But to his credit he had some good defence and head movement....which is mostly what he did in this fight....fight defensively. His defence made Molitor miss alot in the first few rounds but Steve was still winning each round without question. Actually one body shot is the only real punch I can recall Azuaga landing in 5 rounds.....by the 4th and 5th Molitor had figured Azuaga out and did what you should do with that calibre of fighter, and get him out of there. In the 4th Azuaga was dropped and in the 5th he was dropped two more times and hurt with a body shot......as the referee was giving him the count his corner stepped in and threw in the towel.

The main event was a very exciting 12 round contest between WBO Junior Batamweight Champion Jose Lopez of Puerto Rico and the young 19 year old Filipino sensation Marvin Sonsona. Might have been the most exciting fight yet at Rama. The Filipino-Canadian fans were out in full force waving their flags and making it a great fight atmosphere. Sonsona who was 13-0 with 12 knockouts was looking for the KO early. I thought Lopez stole the first round while the two of them were feeling each other out but then starting in the 2nd Sonsona was showing that power he was known for with some hard counter hooks. Sonsona was starting to take over the fight with his power and dropped Lopez in the 4th. It was the kind of knockdown which made me think the fight was gonna be over very soon...Sonsona pressed him trying to finish but Lopez the warrior hung in there and survived. Sonsona controlled the middle rounds as Lopez was trying to clear his head. The power punching Filipino had never gone past 5 rounds before and it was starting to show in the later rounds as he was tiring and Lopez started to mount a comeback.
Lopez starting taking the later rounds on my card and was landing some good solid shots....to Sonsona's credit he took them all very well. There was some great exchanges in the fight with both fighters landing their power shots.....to my surprise though it was Sonsona who took the last 2 rounds of the fight as Lopez seemed to slow by then and his offence was not very effective.
Marvin Sonsona became the new champion at only 19 with a unanimous decision....the scores were 114-111, 115-110, and 116-109. The 116-109 card was way off to me....I thought the fight was alot closer than that even though Lopez had lost a point for low blows in the 8th....but Sonsona was clearly the victor. Sonsona did alot of things wrong in there but his power and toughness made up for it this time.....only time will tell if he can be the next Pacquiao but he definitely has the potential....

Catch the action tonight on TSN at 11:30pm

Thankfully....Diaz gets the Decision!

Everywhere I look everyone is talking about about the "controversy" of saturday's fight. I don't know why there is such a public outcry for Malignaggi losing the decision saturday night to Juan Diaz....the main thing we have to look at here is if he loses, then chances are his next few fights do not get televised....so we the boxing fans benefit from that. Let's all be happy and celebrate his loss and reap the rewards of network free Paula for a little while. I personally scored the fight 115-113 for Diaz...ok yes the 118-110 score was bad, I'll admit that much at least. But I cannot stand the guy at all and when a round is close I cannot give it to the guy who runs and avoids all contact. You gotta give it to the guy who is the aggressor and at least trying to make a fight out of it. It is after all a fight...its not a lets run and avoid each other match. Can you imagine what kind of fight it would have been if Diaz did not move forward? Judges and fans do not want to watch someone run for 12 rounds, there is no entertainment value in that. De La Hoya found that out when he lost his decision to Trinidad for running the last 3 rounds. There is something called boxing, which is giving good movement and angles, but still "fighting"...then there is just jabbing and running which Paula has perfected because he lacks the ability to hurt an opponent. I can enjoy watching guys like Pernell Whitaker fight, and Winky Wright and Chris Byrd, those are boxers who still know how to fight. I have a question for the Paula supporters out there....would you really reach down into your pockets and pay to watch him fight next time?
No no....don't shake your head yes just yet, I want you to think about it. Be honest with yourself, would you pay to watch him fight? Actually I shouldn't say watch him fight, would you pay to watch him in the ring? I highly doubt it....and why is that? Because he bores everyone! Here is another question, would you ever watch one of his fights a second time? Like when Juan Diaz fought Juan Manuel Marquez earlier this year in what has probably been the best fight so far this year...I have seen the fight at least 3 times....because it is a fantastic match between two real fighters. Has anyone ever sat down and popped in a DVD to watch a Malignaggi fight a second time? I already know the answer to that without having to ask. Watching him live was dreadful enough, who could sit through it again?? I would rather watch John Ruiz fight a clone of himself than ever watch Paula fight again. Everytime he opens his mouth I like him even less, and that's hard to do. The guy has fought 3 good names now in his career, and lost to all 3 of them. So good riddance to you Paula Malignaggi....maybe you would have gotten that decision if you were a "fighter"....but I am glad you didn't.

Another Beating for Paula...

I am looking forward to tonight's junior welterweight fight between Juan Diaz and Paula Malignaggi, not because I am expecting a fantastic brawl, or great fight, but because I will enjoy watching Paula take another beating and with a little luck he'll retire and we will not have to be tortured with his fights ever again. How Malignaggi has any following outside his immediate family is beyond me...why is that George?? I feel that in boxing, while it's not important to score a KO every time you are in the ring, you still need to have some punching power to make your opponent think twice before just walking in on you. Paula simply does not possess any power whatsoever, which makes me wonder what made him want to be a fighter?? He has 5 knockouts in 27 fights, and has not scored a TKO since 2003! The only fighter I find even remotely as boring as him is of course John Ruiz. Tonight I am expecting Diaz to just walk straight through those feathery fists and break Paula down until the ref or his corner has to mercifully stop the fight in the later rounds. Diaz is very tough, showed it in his last fight which was a war with Juan Manuel Marquez, and he is a volume puncher that just keeps on coming and throwing non stop for 12 rounds. Diaz is not much of a power puncher himself but makes up for it with volume and breaks down his opponents. Should be how it will play out tonight and even though Diaz doesn't hit like Cotto, Paula might look like this when it's all over:


The undercard has 2 interesting fights featuring hard hitting middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs, and former world champion Robert Guerrero is fighting for another junior lightweight title. Usually I'd say don't blink when Jacobs is in the ring, but the last time I said that the fight went to an 8 round decision, but the guy can punch. He is Malignaggi's opposite! Guerrero is also a very good fighter, and while I am not too familiar with the champion Malcolm Klassen, I am expecting Guerrero to get the win.

I haven't had alot to say lately, all the big fights this summer were either cancelled or rescheduled but we have Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manual Marquez coming up next month and later this year I am looking forward to Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, David Haye and Nicolai Valuev, the super middleweight tournament, and even Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola. I only want to see that last fight since Klitschko will finally expose Arreola and stop everyone from thinking he is the next great thing. I'll analyze the other fights as they get closer.

Rumble at Rama VIII

Last night I was ringside at Casino Rama officiating for the Rumble at Rama VIII. As usual it was very smoothly run and they really put on a great show up there. The venue is perfect for boxing and it looked like a sell out crowd again. There was 6 fights on the card showcasing some good Canadian talent.

First up was a women's super batamweight 4 rounder. French Canadian Nathalie Forget improved her record to 2-0 with a 4 round shut out of Amanda Ayotte. Forget looked very accurate and barely missed a sinlge punch. I felt she could have easily gotten a TKO if she pressed the action a little more but seemed to be content with going the distance. To Ayotte's credit she took all the shots and did survive to the end.

The second fight was the pro debut of super middleweight Pedro DeMelo from Milton. He took on Juan Sanchez from Nova Scotia. I have to say I was impressed with DeMelo....he looked very calm and in control for it being his first professional fight. He has a good style and pounded out an easy 4 round shut out. Sanchez was game but never really in the fight. Keep an eye on DeMelo.

Next up was Hamilton's Justin Fountain taking on Ivan Flores of Mexico in a 4 round junior middleweight contest. This one had some good action and good exchanges especially towards the end of the fight. Both fighters look exhausted by the midway point but Fountain was able to land enough clean shots to take the decision. Fountain's right uppercut being the best tool in the fight.

Canadian Heavyweight Champion Greg Kielsa fought an overmatched and overweight Byron Polley in the night's 4th fight. Kielsa kept his composure looking to box but Polley was a game fighter and did land some decent left hooks in the third round but was dropped by a body shot.
In the 4th round Kielsa was actually stunned when he moved in to finish Polley...he legs buckled momentarily before he was able to drop Polley again en route to the 4th round KO. Polley just barely made the count and the fight was waved off.

In a very interesting matchup, an undefeated junior middleweight prospect from the U.S., Austin Trout (17-0-13KO) took on Brampton's Shawn Garnett. Garnett started out well showing great defensive skills slipping most of Trout's shots. He had a very good second round which had me wondering about an upset in the fight. But as Garnett tired and slowed down by the 3rd round Trout picked up the pace and found his range landing more and more often. Garnett was never able to get back into the fight in the second half and Trout walked away still undefeated with an 8 round unanimous decision.

The main event saw the return of the "Canadian Kid" Steve Molitor. Molitor took on the tough mexican Heriberto Ruiz for the IBF #2 ranked super bantamweight eliminator over 12 rounds.
It was the clear that the Casino Rama crowd was there to cheer on their fighter. The fight though turned out to be more of a chess match with not alot of action. They started very slow over the first couple rounds trying to figure each other out which did draw some boo's from the fans who were hoping for a little more action. The rounds were close but I felt Molitor was stealing them with the cleaner shots. When they did exchange Molitor was the faster of the two and landed the better punches. Around the 5th round Ruiz caught Molitor with a right hand that appeared to shake him momentarily and Molitor played defensive clearing his head. Midway through the fight there was an accidental beadbutt that left Molitor with a decent cut high up on his head. The cut wasn't in a bad spot but they were never able to stop the bleeding so it looked much worse than it was. The last half of the fight was much like the first. Ruiz stole a few rounds here and there but Molitor controlled it for the most part with the cleaner shots. The fight was actually called a split decision but I had personally scored it 117-112 for Molitor. Two of the judges had it 116-112 for Molitor and one had it the reverse 116-112 for Ruiz. Ruiz was the aggressor for most of the fight but he was just not effective. Not a stellar performance for Molitor but still a victory and that's what counts. He will be returning to Rama on September 4th for his next fight. All credit to Allan Tremblay for a great show again.

Pascal Survives a Shark Attack and Wladimir Dominates Again!

Friday nights WBC Light Heavyweight championship fight between undefeated champion Adrian “The Shark” Diaconu (26-0-15KO) and challenger Jean Pascal (22-1-15KO) lived up to the hype and was a great action fight. I was really looking forward to watching this fight and it certainly did not disappoint. Both fighters are based in Montreal and since the fight took place in the Bell Centre in Montreal there was a great crowd on hand cheering their fighters. You didn’t have to worry about a hometown decision this time. I knew beforehand Pascal’s speed and movement was going to be the key factor in the fight and it was. Pascal was moving up from the super middleweight division and brought all of his speed with him. I have to say I was always impressed with Jean Pascal up until his fight with Omar Pittman. Pascal had a disappointing appearance and seemed to struggle and was hurt by the journeyman fighter with little power. I wasn’t sure where Pascal was going to go after that but then he redeemed himself with a great action fight with WBC Super Middleweight champ Carl Froch. Even in losing the decision I thought Pascal gave a very good performance and showed more toughness than I would have given him credit for. He also brought that toughness up into last nights fight. I knew Diaconu had the edge in power, being the natural light heavyweight, and if he were to win the fight it would probably have to be by knockout.
Pascal started out fast in round one showcasing his superior speed landing some hard right hands and moving right back out of Diaconu’s punching range. Pascal likes to stay back out of range then suddenly rush in with combinations, and then he is out again. He keeps his hands very low, which could be very dangerous against a faster opponent, but Diaconu was having trouble landing anything with any significance early on. The two of them traded very good shots in the third round as Diaconu seemed to have found his range and was starting to come on in the fight. The fifth round was highly entertaining as Pascal dropped the champion with a left hook. Diaconu didn’t appear too hurt but Pascal rushed him and landed a few more solid right hands which ended with Diaconu down on his knees but referee Marlon Wright didn’t call it a knockdown. It could have been argued either way. Then towards the end of the round Diaconu stunned Pascal with a right hand and I was worried Pascal was going to go down (I was pulling for Pascal to win as Diaconu usually bores me in his fights). Pascal survived the round and came right back with a strong sixth round. Throughout the next couple rounds the two fighters had great exchanges both landing hard shots. I am surprised that Pascal stood and fought a lot of the times with the stronger champion, but he did. Pascal was seeming to tire towards the championship rounds and Diaconu stunned him in the eleventh and was looking like he was on his way to a TKO. To Pascal’s credit each time he was hurt he came right back with intensity. In my gut I was worried that Pascal was not going to survive the twelfth but he did and looked every bit like the champion he was about to become. Pascal got the unanimous decision with scores of 115-112, 116-112, and 116-111.
It was a good win for Jean Pascal and shows that he can be a threat in the light heavyweight division.

On the undercard season 4 Contender champion Troy Ross took on journeyman Michael Simms in a ten round cruiserweight fight. Simms was coming into the fight with 10 losses but had never been stopped before. So even though Ross can pack a punch I knew he was going to have to win by decision. Ross did exactly what you have to do against Simms and did pound out a workmanlike decision victory. Ross’s right eye started closing early in the fight and he was later cut by an accidental headbutt, but neither seemed to deter him his gameplan of swarming Simms and landing power hooks and body shots on the inside. Simms was never able to assert himself or get himself into the fight and it was a near shutout for the Canadian cruiserweight. It was a good night of boxing for the Canadian fighters.


Yesterday in Germany IBF/WBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko completely dominated Ruslan Chagaev on his way to a 10th round TKO victory. The fight was stopped between rounds just as the bell for the 10th rang. Chagaev had a nasty cut over his left eye and was never in the fight at all. The fight was every bit as dull as I had expected. Right from round one Klitschko mostly just used the left jab to dominate the fight, staying on the outside and fighting a typical "careful" Wladimir fight. Chagaev could not get inside and never found his range. Chagaev was dropped in the second round by a big Klitschko right hand. Most of the fight was just watching Klitschko's left hand at work, with the occasional right thrown in. By the 9th round he really started giving Chagaev a beating and to my joy Chagaev never came out for the 10th. He never looked in trouble of being knocked out but he was getting beaten up. Not a really satisfying result for me but it will have to do. Where does Klitschko go from here? Not sure I even care...aside from David Haye I can't even think of another heavyweight fighter I have any interest in watching well except for the great James Toney. I'd like Wladimir to fight Chris Arreola just so people would finally see how horrible Arreola is when Wlad KO's him and stop talking about him like he is the next great thing.

Wlad Defends on Saturday and Pascal is Swimming with a Shark!

This coming saturday the IBF/WBO Heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, defends his title in Germany. For so long I was anxiously awaiting this weekend, the first time in a very long time that I have been excited about a heavyweight championship fight. The division has been in a sad state for so long, lacking any decent action fights and fighters. But this saturday was supposed to have changed that when Wladimir was going to defend against Britain's David Haye. Haye is a hard punching cruiserweight champion who has recently moved up to the heavyweight division and has done all he could to get under the skin of the Klitschko brothers trying to get one of them to agree to fight him. They are giants compared to him but boxing is a business, and fighting either of them means more money than Haye has seen to date. I didn't like Haye's chances with Vitali Klitschko...the WBC champ and the bigger of the brothers...Vitali is alot tougher than Wladimir. But Haye against Wlad was interesting. Wlad is still much bigger and much stronger...6 foot 6, 250 lbs against 6 foot 3, 215 lbs...but Wlad's chin isn't so solid. My instincts told me Wlad was too big and probably would have KO'd the smaller Haye...but Haye had a punchers chance which would have added some drama to the fight. He definitely has the power to KO Wlad if he can catch him cleanly. But as it turned out Haye got injured in training camp and pulled out of the fight....and he was replaced by my oh so favourite fighter Ruslan Chagaev...(sarcasm). The exciting fight I was waiting for is now most likely going to be a snorefest. The only consolation here is that I believe I will get to see Chagaev finally beaten. Something I have been waiting for. I was upset in thinking that Chagaev was going to beat Valuev a few weeks ago and take the WBA title...but now at least I don't see him beating Wladimir. It's funny...I can usually say that any opponent of Wlad's has a punchers chance given his weak chin...but not this time. I really can't picture Chagaev knocking him out. I see Wlad boxing his way to a careful decision in an extremely dull fight. If I am really lucky he will KO Chagaev but I don't think he will. So the heavyweight division continues on with fights that inspire no excitement.....


At least friday night offers some interesting fights, and Canadian ones too! Montreal's super middleweight Jean Pascal is stepping up in weight to fight the WBC Light Heavyweight champ Adrian "The Shark" Diaconu who also fights out of Montreal. Now how Diaconu became WBC champ is beyond me, it was given to him?!? He didn't actually win it in the ring. He didn't beat anyone for it. It was handed to him for some reason. I've never been impressed by Diaconu...I find his fights boring aside from the time he destroyed a washed up Rico Hoye. I believe Pascal is going to prove too fast for him and outbox him to a decision victory. Pascal looked good even in losing his title fight to Carl Froch, he impressed me that night. The only edge Diaconu will have is power but I don't think it will be enough for him to win.
The undercard features Brampton's cruiserweight Troy Ross who I really feel is Canada's pound for pound best fighter. Troy is coming off his best accomplishment so far in winning the season 4 Contender tournament that was held in Singapore. He won all four of his fights impressively, three of them by KO. Friday night he will take on journeyman cruiserweight Michael Simms. Simms has 10 losses but has never been stopped before. Troy should have little trouble beating Simms but will have to look to win the decision, and not try so hard for the KO. A KO of Simms would be impressive, but not likely.