“But then I threw the
check hook. They teach us that in northern
Michigan in the amateurs, and he walked right into the shot.He never saw it coming.”
-Floyd
Mayweather, Jr
Indeed, Sugar Ray Robinson
would be proud to see his classic KO of Gene Fullmer replicated. Floyd
Mayweather scored an impressive tenth round TKO in his welterweight showdown
against Ricky Hatton this past Saturday. Mayweather controlled the majority of
the action with his astute ring generalship; alternating between out bullying
Hatton on the inside with hooks and forearms, and stinging potshots from the
outside to keep the Manchester native off balance.
As expected, Hatton applied
non-stop pressure early, attempting to prevent Mayweather from getting any room
to counterpunch. Surprisingly to many, Hatton was nullified in the clinches by
Mayweather, reduced to flailing rabbit punches and efforts to keep Floyd’s
elbows out of his neck. During these clinches, Mayweather would push Hatton’s
guard up and work the body with clean hooks. This proved invaluable, as the
body work slowed Hatton’s early impressive footwork and lowered his hands,
setting up the picture perfect left hook KO to punctuate the fight.
Mayweather improves to 39-0,
with Hatton falling to 43-1. Now having defeated the recognized top fighter in
four different weight classes, Mayweather can make good on numerous promises to
retire, or seek to pad his legacy with a possible lucrative showdown with
Miguel Cotto next year. The decision rests with Cotto’s promoter Bob Arum, who
is on record as stating Cotto with face
Joshua Clotty early next year to set up a July showdown with stablemate Antonio
Margarito. Let’s hope Arum puts his differences with Mayweather aside to negotiate
the biggest and best fight in the welterweight division. Clottey and Margarito
are meaningless fights for Cotto, who has proven over the last two years he can
handle dangerous but limited second-tier opposition. If Arum could come up with
8 million dollars to finance a proposed Mayweather-Margarito fight, he should
have no problem supplying the funds to make Mayweather-Cotto a reality. Cotto
fights whomever his handlers put in front of him, and Floyd, well….he’s not
called “Money Mayweather” for nothing.
Despite a great main event,
Golden Boy Promotions must be taken to task for the atrocious undercard. Edner
Cherry vs. Wes Ferguson was more fit for Comcast Sports than PPV, while
talented featherweight Daniel Ponce de Leon won a snoozer decision against Eduardo Escobedo. The
biggest disappointment of the night was the super middleweight matchup between
Jeff Lacy and Peter Manfredo. Both fighters sleepwalked through the bout, with
Lacy looking sluggish and weak from his long layoff due to rotator cuff surgery.
Manfredo was content to fight in spurts and not take advantage of a golden
opportunity for an upset. Despite getting the unanimous decision I hope Lacy’s
team keeps him away from the other elite fighters of the division (Mikkel
Kessler, for example) for at least two more fights. From there we can see how
much Lacy has left after the beating from Calzaghe.
Speaking of Calzaghe,
according to www.fightnews.com
a scuffle nearly broke out last Friday between Joe and Bernard Hopkins.
Calzaghe called Hopkins’ bluff regarding a proposed showdown at Yankee
Stadium. Hopkins is quoted as telling present reporters “I would never
let a white boy beat me. You can print that. I would never lose to a white boy.”
Calzaghe responded in kind, “He ducked me four years ago. He thinks he’s a
legend but he lost to Jermain Taylor twice and, believe me, he will lose to
me…..He’ll get his a### kicked, full stop. He’s all mouth. He doesn’t fight,
he holds.” I favor Calzaghe to outpoint Hopkins if this fight takes place. Joe’s speed and movement
should allow him to avoid most of Hopkins’ mauling attempts (something the stationary Winky
Wright could not do.) The longer this fight takes to come off, the more if
favors the younger Calzaghe.
While the older guard bicker
with each other, young titlist Chad Dawson waits in the wings. Calzaghe,
Hopkins, and Antonio Tarver have all ignored the young champion, who may have
to settle for rugged veteran Glen Johnson early next year. Johnson, who KO’d
Montell Griffin in May, is in the twilight of his career at 38 years old. I
expect he’ll be motivated to once again prove the skeptics wrong as he did with
Jones and Tarver, but Dawson’s talent, particularly his hand speed and body
punching, should be enough to earn Chad a clear decision.
Below are the RING Magazine
rankings as of December 3, 2007. Until next week, boxing fans……
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Weight Unlimited
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
132
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO
49-3 (44)
2
2
135
SAMUEL PETER
29-1 (22)
3
3
69
OLEG MASKAEV
34-5 (26)
4
4
55
RUSLAN CHAGAEV
23-0-1 (17)
5
5
103
NICOLAY VALUEV
47-1 (34)
6
6
27
SULTAN IBRAGIMOV
22-0-1 (17)
7
7
88
SERGEI LIAKHOVICH
23-2 (14)
8
8
27
VLADIMIR VIRCHIS
24-1 (20)
9
9
21
TONY THOMPSON
31-1 (19)
10
10
6
ALEXANDER POVETKIN
14-0 (11)
CRUISERWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 200 pounds
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
103
DAVID HAYE
20-1 (19)
1
1
181
STEVE CUNNINGHAM
20-1 (10)
2
2
299
JEAN-MARC MORMECK
33-4 (22)
3
3
323
O’NEIL BELL
26-2-1 (24)
4
4
129
KRZYSZTOF WLODARCZYK
38-2 (28)
5
5
63
ENZO MACCARINELLI
28-1 (21)
6
6
58
FIRAT ARSLAN
28-3-1 (18)
7
7
53
MARCO HUCK
19-0 (13)
8
8
75
VADIM TOKAREV
24-1-1 (17)
9
9
40
DARNELL WILSON
22-5-3 (18)
10
10
56
JOHNATHON BANKS
18-0 (13)
LIGHT
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 175 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
78
BERNARD HOPKINS
48-4-1 (32)
1
1
198
ZSOLT ERDEI
28-0 (17)
2
2
224
CLINTON WOODS
41-3-1 (24)
3
3
481
ANTONIO TARVER
26-4 (19)
4
4
234
GLEN JOHNSON
46-11-2 (31)
5
5
79
CHAD DAWSON
25-0 (17)
6
6
167
PAUL BRIGGS
26-3 (18)
7
7
408
JULIO GONZALEZ
41-4 (25)
8
8
30
ADRIAN DIACONU
24-0 (15)
9
9
26
STIPE DREWS
32-1 (13)
10
10
112
HUGO GARAY
30-3 (17)
SUPER
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 168 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
552
JOE CALZAGHE
44-0 (32)
1
1
157
MIKKEL KESSLER
39-1 (29)
2
2
272
ANTHONY MUNDINE
29-3 (22)
3
3
87
LUCIAN BUTE
21-0 (17)
4
4
158
JEFF LACY
22-1 (17)
5
5
129
LIBRADO ANDRADE
26-1 (20)
6
6
78
CARL FROCH
22-0 (18)
7
7
65
ALLAN GREEN
25-1 (18)
8
8
35
SAKIO BIKA
25-3-2 (15)
9
9
60
DENIS INKIN
32-0 (24)
10
10
9
JEAN PASCAL
19-0 (14)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 160 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
53
KELLY PAVLIK
32-0 (29)
1
1
135
WINKY WRIGHT
51-4-1 (25)
2
2
146
ARTHUR ABRAHAM
24-0 (19)
3
3
234
JERMAIN TAYLOR
27-1-1 (17)
4
4
220
FELIX STURM
28-2-1 (12)
5
5
73
JAVIER CASTILLEJO
61-7 (41)
6
6
121
SEBASTIAN SYLVESTER
27-2 (13)
7
7
79
AMIN ASIKAINEN
22-1 (15)
8
8
7
RANDY GRIFFIN
24-1-3 (12)
9
9
5
WAYNE ELCOCK
18-2 (8)
10
10
3
RAYMOND JOVAL
37-4 (16)
JR.
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 154 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
74
CORY SPINKS
36-4 (11)
2
2
125
ROMAN KARMAZIN
36-2-1 (23)
3
3
83
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
38-5 (30)
4
4
70
VERNON FORREST
40-2 (29)
5
5
105
SERGEI DZINDZIRUK
34-0 (22)
6
6
22
JOACHIM ALCINE
29-0 (18)
7
7
48
TRAVIS SIMMS
25-1 (19)
8
8
18
IKE QUARTEY
37-4-1 (31)
9
9
277
VERNO PHILLIPS
41-10-1 (21)
10
10
5
SERGIO MARTINEZ
40-1-1 (21)
WELTERWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 147 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
87
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
38-0 (24)
1
1
53
MIGUEL COTTO
31-0 (25)
2
2
80
PAUL WILLIAMS
33-0 (24)
3
3
43
SHANE MOSLEY
44-5 (37)
4
4
334
ANTONIO MARGARITO
35-5 (25)
5
5
186
ZAB JUDAH
36-5 (25)
6
6
175
KERMIT CINTRON
29-1 (27)
7
7
138
LUIS COLLAZO
27-3 (13)
8
8
35
JOSHUA CLOTTEY
32-2 (19)
9
9
19
JACKSON BONSU
26-1 (23)
10
10
132
OKTAY URKAL
38-4 (12)
JR.
WELTERWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 140 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
242
RICKY HATTON
43-0 (31)
1
1
146
JUNIOR WITTER
36-1-2 (21)
2
2
25
PAUL MALIGNAGGI
23-1 (5)
3
3
20
GAVIN REES
27-0 (13)
4
4
263
VIVIAN HARRIS
28-3-1 (18)
5
5
87
SOULEYMANE M’BAYE
36-2-1 (21)
6
6
198
LOVEMORE NDOU
45-9-1 (30)
7
7
74
JUAN LAZCANO
37-4-1 (27)
8
8
71
DEMETRIUS HOPKINS
28-0-1 (11)
9
9
14
RICARDO TORRES
32-1 (28)
10
10
6
KENDALL HOLT
22-2 (12)
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 135 pounds
This
week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
154
JOEL CASAMAYOR
34-3-1 (21)
1
1
190
JUAN DIAZ
33-0 (17)
2
2
74
DAVID DIAZ
33-1-1 (17)
3
3
61
JOSE SANTA CRUZ
25-3 (14)
4
4
190
JULIO DIAZ
34-4 (25)
5
5
61
NATE CAMPBELL
31-5-1 (25)
6
6
42
MICHAEL KATSIDIS
23-0 (20)
7
7
61
ALMAZBEK RAIYMKULOV
25-1-1 (14)
8
8
117
ZAHIR RAHEEM
28-2 (16)
9
9
55
YURI ROMANOV
19-2 (13)
10
10
28
ANTHONY PETERSON
24-0 (17)
JR.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 130 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
129
MANNY PACQUIAO
45-3-2 (35)
2
2
38
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ
48-3-1 (35)
3
3
64
JOAN GUZMAN
28-0 (17)
4
4
70
EDWIN VALERO
22-0 (22)
5
5
41
HUMBERTO SOTO
43-6-2 (27)
6
6
297
JORGE BARRIOS
47-3-1 (34)
7
7
31
ALEX ARTHUR
25-1 (19)
8
8
18
YODSANAN NANTHACHAI
50-3-1 (39)
9
9
11
MZONKE FANA
27-3 (10)
10
10
9
CASSIUS BALOYI
34-3-1 (18)
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 126 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
175
CHRIS JOHN
40-0-1 (21)
2
2
41
ROBERT GUERRERO
21-1-1 (14)
3
3
212
INJIN CHI
31-3-1 (18)
4
4
83
HIROYUKI ENOKI
27-0-1 (19)
5
5
56
JORGE SOLIS
32-1-2 (23)
6
6
35
NAOKI MATSUDA
27-7-3 (10)
7
7
21
STEVEN LUEVANO
34-1 (15)
8
8
20
JORGE LINARES
24-0 (15)
9
9
52
MARTIN HONORIO
24-4-1 (12)
10
10
81
NICKY COOK
27-1 (15)
JR.
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 122 pounds
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
308
ISRAEL VAZQUEZ
42-4 (31)
1
1
40
RAFAEL MARQUEZ
37-4 (33)
2
2
143
CELESTINO CABALLERO
28-2 (19)
3
3
105
DANIEL PONCE DE LEON
33-1 (30)
4
4
109
STEVE MOLITOR
25-0 (10)
5
5
90
SOMSAK SITHCHATCHAWAL
53-2-1 (43)
6
6
139
SERGIO MANUEL MEDINA
29-1 (17)
7
7
77
TAKALANI NDLOVU
27-4 (17)
8
8
24
POONSAWAT KRATINGAENGGYM
30-1 (20)
9
9
15
KIKO MARTINEZ
17-0 (14)
10
10
31
REY BAUTISTA
24-1 (18)
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 118 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
136
HOZUMI HASEGAWA
22-2 (7)
2
2
634
VEERAPOL SAHAPROM
58-3-2 (42)
3
3
73
WLADIMIR SIDORENKO
20-0-2 (7)
4
4
265
SILENCE MABUZA
20-2 (16)
5
5
17
GERRY PENALOSA
52-6-2 (35)
6
6
39
JHONNY GONZALEZ
35-6 (29)
7
7
24
RICARDO CORDOBA
31-1-2 (20)
8
8
10
JOSEPH AGBEKO
25-1 (22)
9
9
65
SIMONE MALUDROTTU
25-1 (10)
10
10
22
LUIS PEREZ
25-2 (16)
JR.
BANTAMWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 115 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
391
MARTIN CASTILLO
33-2 (17)
2
2
297
ALEXANDER MUNOZ
31-2 (27)
3
3
72
NOBUO NASHIRO
10-1 (6)
4
4
64
CRISTIAN MIJARES
33-3-2 (14)
5
5
277
FERNANDO MONTIEL
35-2-1 (26)
6
6
63
JORGE ARCE
48-4-1 (37)
7
7
175
KATSUSHIGE KAWASHIMA
32-6 (21)
8
8
8
DIMITRI KIRILOV
29-3 (9)
9
9
157
JOSE NAVARRO
26-3 (12)
10
10
27
Z GORRES
27-2-1 (15)
FLYWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 112 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
22
NONITO DONAIRE
19-1 (12)
2
2
84
DAISUKE NAITO
32-2-2 (20)
3
3
351
PONGSAKLEK WONJONGKAM
65-3 (34)
4
4
138
TAKEFUMI SAKATA
31-4-2 (15)
5
5
277
OMAR NARVAEZ
25-0-2 (16)
6
6
216
VIC DARCHINYAN
29-1 (23)
7
7
53
ROBERTO VASQUEZ
24-2 (17)
8
8
208
BRAHIM ASLOUM
22-2 (9)
9
9
40
JOSE LOPEZ
35-7-2 (29)
10
10
19
KOKI KAMEDA
16-0 (11)
JR.
FLYWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 108 pounds
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
C
C
15
IVAN CALDERON
30-0 (6)
1
1
188
ULISES SOLIS
25-1-2 (19)
2
2
133
HUGO CAZARES
25-4-1 (19)
3
3
26
GIOVANNI SEGURA
18-0-1 (14)
4
4
46
EDGAR SOSA
30-5 (16)
5
5
69
OMAR NINO
24-2-1 (10)
6
6
36
DANIEL REYES
39-5-1 (30)
7
7
341
NELSON DIEPPA
24-4-2 (13)
8
8
117
BRIAN VILORIA
19-2 (12)
9
9
63
OMAR SALADO
17-0-2 (9)
10
10
8
JUAN CARLOS REVECO
17-0 (8)
STRAWWEIGHTS
Weight Limit: 105 pounds
Champ: Vacant
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Record
1
1
222
YUTAKA NIIDA
22-1-3 (8)
2
2
22
FLORANTE CONDES
22-3-1 (20)
3
8
36
OLEYDONG SITHSAMERCHAI
24-0 (8)
4
3
200
EAGLE KYOWA
18-2 (6)
5
4
188
MUHAMMAD RACHMAN
61-6-5 (31)
6
5
136
KATSUNARI TAKAYAMA
18-3 (7)
7
6
5
ROMAN GONZALEZ
15-0 (15)
8
7
10
DONNIE NIETES
22-1-3 (13)
9
9
137
RODEL MAYOL
23-2 (18)
10
10
15
OMAR SOTO
13-1-1 (6)
POUND-FOR-POUND
This
Week
Last
Week
Weeks
in
Ratings
Fighter
Weight Class
1
1
466
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
Welterweight
2
2
209
MANNY PACQUIAO
Jr. Lightweight
3
3
38
JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ
Jr. Lightweight
4
4
78
BERNARD HOPKINS
Lt. Heavyweight
5
5
92
JOE CALZAGHE
Super Middleweight
6
6
18
ISRAEL VAZQUEZ
Jr. Featherweight
7
7
26
MIGUEL COTTO
Welterweight
8
8
132
RICKY HATTON
Jr. Welterweight
9
9
191
WINKY WRIGHT
Middleweight
10
10
100
RAFAEL MARQUEZ
Jr. Featherweight
