The Boxing Stop's official June Pound for Pound Rankings!
1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Joe Calzaghe
3. J.M. Marqez
4. Kelly Pavlik
5. Israel Vasquez
6. Bernard Hopkins
7. Miguel Cotto
8. Ricky Hatton
9. Ivan Calderon
10.Rafael Marquez
Debate away....
Well, I was wrong about who would win the Arthur Abraham-Edison Miranda rematch. It just goes to show that European fighters are usually a lot better than they are given credit for on the other side of the pond. If you missed the TKO, then check out round 4 below.
Another fighter from across the big lake had a good night as well. Lightweight superstar Amir Khan KO'd Michael Gomez after being belted to the ground in the previous round. Khan looks like the real deal, but we'll have to wait before we see him in the ring with any of the big names in his division.
“I can make a world-title fight tomorrow, but it won’t be the right thing to do,” Frank Warren, Khan’s promoter, said. “He needs a couple more fights. He still isn’t ready to fight for a world title. He needs more schooling and we’re not going to rush him.”
Still, it was a good night for Khan, and his arrival to the top shouldn't be too much longer. Here is video of the 5th round KO.
Finally, HBO put on a good card opposite Showtime's airing of the Abraham-Miranda rematch. Heavyweight Chris Arreola added another victory on his unblemished record. Arreola won by disqualification against Chaz Witherspoon in a battle of undefeated prospects. Still, I'm not too impressed with Arreola just yet. Let's get him in the ring with Samuel Peter (or anyone else with a punch) and see what happens.
In the main event, Andre Berto looked brilliant in his demolition of Miguel Rodriguez. Berto looks like he's finally agreed to use defense sometimes. He's on his way to the top, and with the win he claims the WBO welterweight title vacated by Floyd Mayweather. Let's hope Berto gets a shot at the winner of Cotto-Margarito!
This weekend, a couple of key fights take place in the world of boxing. Here are The Boxing Stop's fearless predictions.
1. Andre Berto will get knocked down but not out.
Berto looks to be a real future superstar, but he needs to learn that a good defense is more important than a good offense. Berto will get floored this weekend against the lowly ranked Rodriguez.
2. Berto will still win and end up pummeling Rodriguez
Andre Berto is way too talented to lose to someone like Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Berto will get off the floor and proceed to dominate and destroy his challenger.
3. Edison Miranda and Arthur Abraham will make HBO subscribers wish they had Showtime.
Miranda and Abraham already fought a great fight against each other before, and both fighters have improved. Abraham will hope to solidify himself as a legit middleweight champion (but not THE champion) while Miranda could use this win as a springboard to bigger and better things.
4. Miranda will defeat Abraham
Edison Miranda will win the fight and a 3rd fight will quickly follow, leaving everyone wondering why the winner won't fight Kelly Pavlik anytime soon.
5. I'll be pretty happy.
Boxing's great and this weekend appears to be a great weekend for the sport. Enjoy!
As promised, here are the rest of the official enterto.com sports/The Boxing Stop Top Ten Heavyweights of all time list. Highlight videos can be seen here at The Boxing Stop, and if you want to check out the logic behind each pick, be sure to check out the article by clicking here.
1-5 are here.
6. Jack Dempsey
7. Joe Frazier
8. George Foreman
9. Gene Tunney
10. Larry Holmes
Sometimes it's easy to forget how great a fighter was in his prime after he ages a little bit (see Evander Holyfield).
It looks like Joe Calzaghe is setting his sites on the infamous Roy Jones, Jr. Roy Jones, Jr. was once considered someone who may have been able to give Sugar Ray Robinson a run for his money as the greatest fighter ever. Of course, 2 brutal knockouts have changed all that, but Roy did recently earn some love back with his easy win over Felix Trinidad.
Still, Calzaghe should be a heavy favorite in this fight, as Roy just isn't at the same level anymore. Still, does it really matter what happens in this fight? Shouldn't Jones be apprecieated for how great he was in his prime anyway? In my mind, he could get absolutely destroyed by Calzaghe and still come out as being ranked higher than Joe all time.
I'll be rooting for Roy Jones the night of the fight, but only becasue it seems like a lot of people "must've forgot" how great a fighter Roy Jones was in his prime.
Enjoy the highlight video. You won't find a fighter with a better one.
Posting the Rahman-Lewis I KO has got me thinking about the funniest knockout I've ever seen. The one that comes to mind is when one of my favorite fighters Nate "The Galaxy Warrior" Campbell gets knocked out of this universe by Robbie Peden Campbell looked to be on his way to a comfortable victory until this happened:
Can anyone think of anything funnier than this?
Sure, it wasn't "funny" for Nate Campbell (especially at the time), but I've never seen him do that again....
The Boxing Stop has found the best fan made hype videos for the Cotto-Margarito fight. Enjoy.
The Best:
Weird Music:
Not to shabby:
According to ESPN, Oscar de la Hoya is planning a one fight swan song against Miguel Cotto is December. Oscar is quoted in the article as saying that he wants to fight the best, and Miguel Cotto is now the best fighter in the division now that Floyd Mayweather has retired.
I wonder what Antonio Margarito has to say about that.
Miguel Cotto is on the verge of the biggest payday in his career times 2 now. Cotto-Margarito is a hardcore fight fan's dream, and De la Hoya-Cotto would probably break all boxing box office records known to mane. Things are certainly looking bright for Miguel Cotto.
If Cotto can get past Margarito, of course.
I'm not sure that's such a sure thing. In fact, I'm leaning on picking Margarito in a slight upset. Here is why:
1. Cotto is susceptible to being hit (which leads to point 2).
2. Margarito hits hard.
3. Margarito is a hard nosed, tough fighter, and he's just as big (if not bigger) than Miguel Cotto.
Still, why doesn't Oscar just fight the winner? Either fighter will be considered the welterweight King if they win. Sure, Margarito will have to prove it in a rematch with Paul Williams, but essentially Cotto would have to do the same thing.
I'd probably rather see the winner fight Paul Williams regardless.
In any event, this new fight for Oscar is good for boxing. My only concern is what happens if Margarito wins and Oscar decides fighting him doesn't make as much sense financially. Ricky Hatton has already allegedly turned down a fight with Oscar, perhaps eyeing a possible showdown with Manny Pacquiao.
What will Oscar do then?
In a running debate with "jr. anaylst", The Boxing Stop will be running short essays on why Evander Holyfield is an overall greater heavyweight champion than Lennox Lewis.
As you may recall, Holyfield made #5 The Boxing Stop's Top 5 Heavyweights of All Time rankings. While some may justifiably disagree with Holyfield being over other fighters, the argument against Holyfield being rated over Lewis is just plain silly.
Here is reason #1.
NOBODY ever did THAT to Evander Holyfield....
Paul Williams has reestablished himself as the premiere up-n-coming fighter at 147 lbs. The winner of Cotto-Margarito should be mandated to fight Williams next, as it should decide who the new champion of the division is now that Floyd Mayweather is out of the picture.
See for yourself.
