P4P List-November

Well, it's time for the Mac Man's November P4P list, and guess who's still on top:

1. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (Welterweight)- simply the best.
2. Manny Pacquiao (Jr. Lightweight)- He needs to give fans what they want and fight a rematch with Marquez.
3. Bernard Hopkins (Light Heavyweight)- It looks like a showdown with Calzaghe is imminent.
4. Joe Calzaghe (Super Middleweight)- Very impressive in his win vs. Kessler.
5. Juan Manuel Marquez (Jr. Lightweight)- A very good and sometimes very boring fighter.
6. Ricky Hatton (Jr. Welterweight)- It looks like it's about time for Mr. Hatton to pay the piper for all the trash he's been talking about PBF.
7. Miguel Cotto (Welterweight)- Cotto looks to hit the lottery with a fight vs De la hoya on May 5th.
8. Israel Vasquez (Jr. Featherweight)- Great fighter, little weight class.
9. Winky Wright (Middleweight)- Age may be catching up with this future hall-of-famer.
10. Paul Williams (Welterweight)- The Punisher is fierce.

Well, there you go. It's quite clear who the top 4 fighters are in the world, and then after that you could place them in just about any order you choose.

I think Hatton is a bit underrated, but he needs to prove it Dec. 8th against Mayweather.

Miguel Cotto looked impressive in his win by decision over maybe retiring Shane Mosely. If he doesn't fight Oscar de la Hoya on May 5th look for him to do all of us a favor and fight the tough and mean Antonio Mararito sometime next year.

Hopkins and Calzaghe looks like pretty much a done deal. This will be a great fight between two of the best fighters of their era. Boxing purist with love this one, but the mainstream, part-time UFC fan will need to look elsewhere for entertainment as both of these fighters are too smart to beat each others brains out for a full 12 rounds. Still, I am looking forward to it.

December 8th is just around the corner, so fight fans should get ready for the next beg PPV by watching HBO's Mayweather-Hatton 24/7. If you don't have HBO, you can see episode 1 here:


http://www.hbo.com/boxing/events/2007/247/index.html?ntrack_para1=insidehbo1_text

Keep swingin'

Mayorga Bullies Vargas

Loco Ricardo Mayorga gutted out another win against an obviously more gifted opponent. Granted, Fernando Vargas is way past his prime, but isn't Mayorga also? Mayorga sent Vargas to the canvas in the first and the eleventh to eek out a hard fought majority decision Friday night in Los Angeles, CA.

The scores were 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Ricardo Mayorga is nothing more than a club fighter. He has zero true boxing skill and any one with a good jab, a good chin and a decent head on his shoulders should be able to walk away with a victory against him.

It looks like Vargas has none of that.

After the fight, Vargas was full of his usual excuses. He should've done this. He should've done that. Really, what he should've done is just retire after he got blasted by Sugar Shane Mosley the second time. He looked done then and he looks even more done now.

In any event, it was a good fight. If all fights were this entertaining, perhaps Boxing wouldn't be losing ground to fringe sports like MMA.

Next up is my November P4P rankings!

Cotto slips past Mosley!

Boxing fans were treated to a great fight last Saturday night as Miguel Cotto was able to punch his way past future hall-of-famer and all-around great guy Sugar Shane Mosley. It was a very close fight, but Cotto, who punches like a mule, was able to wear down his older opponent and eek out a victory. The fight was scored 115-113, 115-113 and 116-113. Cotto is now 31-0 (25KOs) while Mosley falls to 44-5 (37KOs).

After the fight, Cotto anounced he was ready for all challengers while Mosley said this might be his last fight.

Two thoughts: Why would Mosley retire? It was a very close fight. One could easily argue for the fight being a draw and an outright Mosley victory isn't really a stretch either. Mosley is one of the premiere fighters on his generation, and this fight just proved his worth to the sport. Boxing fans need SSM, and the welterweight division is not nearly as impressive without him. Let's hope he reconsiders.

Cotto looks really impressive. He's poised to make a big jump in the Mac-man's November P4P list (coming out soon!) and I can't think of a fight I wouldn't want to see him in. I would bet his next fight will either be Antonio Margarito, who won on last Saturday's undercard, or the Golden Boy himself. Oscar likes to challenge himself, and Cotto would be a great test. Think about it: what fight would make more money next year? I can't think of one, either.

Okay, I'll go ahead and say it. Mark you calenders: it will be Miguel Cotto vs. Oscar de la Hoya next May 5th! I guarantee it....

But what about the current P4P king? Assuming Floyd Mayweather gets by Ricky Hatton in December, I would say that Mayweather would take another blockbuster fight to help secure his legacy. The only names that fit the bill for that are the Golden Boy and Cotto.

Hmmmmmmmmm. Maybe he'll fight them both. At least then he'd be an underdog for once.

Keep swingin'

K. Mac

Calzaghe Cruises!

As I predicted, Super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe outpointed Mikkel Kessler to solidify his stature as one of the best fighters in the world today. Both fighters came out determined and sharp, but Calzaghe was simply a class above the previously unbeaten Kessler.

The official scorecards read 117-111, 116-112, 116-112.

After the fight, Calzaghe mentioned future possible opponents Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins. A Calzaghe-Jones fight may look good on paper, (really, really old paper) but Hopkins-Calzaghe would be perhaps one of the most important fights of the era.

Let's hope the deal gets d0ne!

*************************

In the other notable fights of the weekend:

Juan Manuel Marquez easily outpointed Rocky Juarez to retain his WBC super featherweight title. Marquez needs to do himself and boxing a favor now and fight Manny Pacquiao again.

Undefeated American Heavyweight prospect Eddie Chambers ran his record to 30-0 as he won a close fought split-decision over Calvin Brock. Two judges had Chambers the winner at 115-113, while the other gave the nod to Brock by the same margin.

Brock, who climbed atop his Oscar de la Hoya-brand bicycle for the last two rounds because he thought he was well ahead on the scorecards, proved once again how foolish it is to quit fighting in a fight.