Knockout Nation: Valero Retains Crown

Valero Retains Crown With 3rd Round TKOUSA-banned knockout artist Edwin Valero (23-0) added another overmatched victim to his resume this past Saturday, scoring a 3rd round stoppage over Zaid Zavaleta (16-3). Zavaleta was dropped in the first round and succumbed to a right hook to end the night. With the win, Valero retains his WBA […]

Valero Retains Crown

With 3rd Round TKO

USA-banned knockout artist Edwin Valero (23-0) added another

overmatched victim to his resume this past Saturday, scoring a 3rd

round stoppage over Zaid Zavaleta (16-3). Zavaleta was dropped in the first

round and succumbed to a right hook to end the night. With the win, Valero

retains his WBA 130 pound title and perfect knockout percentage (19 of those KOs

have come in the first round). The fight marks an increase is visability for

Valero, who showcased his talents this weekend on a PPV card co-promoted by Lou

DiBella and Akihiko Honda. Valero’s handlers are working around the clock to

get his license reinstated in America. Since the ban back in 2004 (due to

motorcycle head trauma), Valero has built a name through word of mouth and the

internet.

Barring no lingering health issues, I like Valero’s chances

of getting reinstated. He’s an exciting albeit unpolished fighter at this time.

The longer it takes, the more risk there is of his skills eroding due to lack

of good competition,

Better Late Than

Never? Jones vs. Trinidad about Six Years Too Late

Remember back in 2001 when many thought Roy Jones was

unbeatable and Bernard Hopkins was just a stepping stone for Tito’s

middleweight supremacy?  Fast forward six

years; Jones still struggles with accepting his mortality after two crushing

knockout losses, while Trinidad has already tied Sugar Ray Leonard for most

comebacks after “retirement.” When the boxing world was hot with rumors of

Trinidad moving up to challenge Jones at a catchweight a, both men were atop

the pound for pound rankings with a combined record of 83-1. In their last six

bouts, Jones has managed a .500 record of 3-3 (2 of those losses being

knockouts), and Trinidad has gone 4-2, but only fighting two bouts in the last

three years. Nevertheless, both men are name fighters, and Trinidad will bring

his Puerto Rican faithful to MSG for the big fight atmosphere that only he can

bring.

In this matchup, I favor Jones by close UD. Trinidad even in

his prime struggled with boxers and gets befuddled when his punching rhythm is

disrupted by movement. I expect Jones to keep his now porcelain chin far away

from Tito’s left hook by boxing on the outside and showing sporadic flashes of

his once renown hand speed. Trinidad will be game, but combine the fact that

he’s coming off a near three year layoff, and won’t have the benefit of a wild

come forward slugger like Mayorga in front of him, swings the “intangibles”

factor enough in Jones’ favor.  The two

aging legends square off on January 19th.

Hatton Ponders His

Future

Ricky Hatton recently told UK reporters that he would

consider a rematch with Floyd Mayweather. Despite the lopsided scorecards and

being introduced head first into a turnbuckle, Hatton feels he did quite well

for most of the bout.

“A

rematch could be in the offing, and there are fights at light-welterweight,”

Hatton states. “My best attribute is I am fearless. I think it was working

up to the six-round stage…there was not much in it then I lost my way a bit. I

lost my rag and had a point taken off. But I’ve got lots of ‘positives’ to take

from the fight.”

Hatton

should stay far away from Mayweather, and head back to 140 to fend off

challenges from Pauli Malignaggi and Junior Witter. The Malignaggi fight would

be a toss up, and a great way to guage where both men are at in their careers.

We know from the Cotto fight the Malignaggi is tough, and won’t be intimidated

by Hatton’s mauling tactics. For personal reasons, Hatton has ignored (or

ducked, depending on who you ask) Witters’s requests for a UK grudge match for

years.  With his American marketability

down at the moment, Hatton may now look favorably at a lucrative showdown back

home.

Larry Holmes Honored

With Hall of Fame Induction

Last week the “Easton Assassin” Larry Holmes was voted into

the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The ceremony will commence in June 2008.

Holmes, sandwiched between heavyweight superstars Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson,

has remained unappreciated since his final retirement in 2002. Holmes made 20

defenses of the heavyweight title, second only to Joe Louis. Of those wins,

eight were against young undefeated fighters. 

He did not lose the title until a controversial SD decision to Michael

Spinks, at the age of 36. Holmes would fight for 17 more years; challenging

Evander Holyfield in a competitive losing effort , and outsmarting young

contender Ray Mercer. Holmes’ final record is 69-6 (44).

War of Words Between

Calzaghe and Hopkins Continues

Joe Calzaghe promoter Frank Warren has weighed in on

Hopkins’ comment last week that he’d “never lose to a white boy.” Speaking with

www.doghouseboxing.com, Warren

commented on the pass he feels Hopkins received for his words.

“I’ve

heard some disgusting trash talk in my 30 years in boxing but that’s the lowest

of the lows. If Joe said ‘I’d never lose to a black man’ – which he’d never

dream of saying, he’d be nicked by the race relations people, and quite rightly

so,” Warren fumed. “There is no need for racial slurs and to say those

derogatory things is diabolical. He should know better and his comments show a

lack of class.”

Hopkins

was unapologetic in his response, stating that his words were appropriate in

light on the disrespect British fans showed during the Mayweather-Hatton fight.

“They already gave me something to work with. They booed the national anthem.

Once they booed the national anthem I knew I had to get them back. I’ll take

care of that come April of next year.”

Negotiations

are moving along for the superfight. Calzaghe made in known that he plans to

fight twice more before hanging up the gloves. “It’s my intention to have two

more fights in the next year and then retire as an undefeated champion like

Rocky Marciano. I want one of those fights to be against Bernard Hopkins in Las

Vegas. I have just had a taste of Las Vegas out here at the Ricky Hatton-Floyd

Mayweather fight and I’d like to see my name up in lights. I only want two more

fights, then it will all be over. I don’t want to go on and on like some boxers

do. I’d like the fight to be here if we can make it, and I’ll execute ‘The

Executioner’.”

Don King Screws Another One

Fresh

off his impressive win over Julio Diaz, lightweight champion Juan Diaz finds

his momentum being stopped from an opponent that no man has been able to

conquer yet. Diaz was scheduled to face contender Michael Katsidis on February

9th. The problem is that Katsidis is promoted by Golden Boy, who won

the purse bid for the fight. Juan is promoted by Don King, who must sign off on

the contest. As you’ve guessed, King is refusing to sign off and not returning

any correspondence from Diaz’s manager. King’s contract with Diaz does not

expire until March 31st, which effectively means Diaz can be frozen

out of this opportunity to fight again on HBO. Diaz’s manager Willie Savannah

vented his frustration to ESPN.com.

 “We sent

King letters telling him has to make a fight before March 31. Besides Katsidis,

we told him [King-promoted mandatory] Nate Campbell or [titleholder] David

Diaz, but he doesn’t respond or nothing,” Savannah told ESPN.com. “As

far as I am concerned, he’s made no attempt to make a fight. My mind tells me

he passed on the fight and he shouldn’t be involved in anything … He’s trying

to screw a 24-year-old college kid.”

 

Well Done, Hank

Rest

in peace to boxing historian Hank Kaplan. Kaplan was nicknamed the “Lord of the

Ring” due his vast boxing knowledge and work over the years. He served as a

consultant to various entities such as ESPN, HBO, and Showtime. Kaplan was also

the technical director for the famous computer fight between Muhammad Ali and

Rocky Marciano. He was 88.

Next

week I’ll be weighing in on Pacquiao-Marquez II, Taylor-Pavlik II, and

Vasquez-Marquez III

Until

next week boxing fans…..

 

RING

Magazine Rankings as of December 9th

Ratings

For Period Ended December 9, 2007

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Weight Unlimited

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

133

WLADIMIR

KLITSCHKO

49-3

(44)

2

2

136

SAMUEL

PETER

29-1

(22)

3

3

70

OLEG

MASKAEV

34-5

(26)

4

4

56

RUSLAN

CHAGAEV

23-0-1

(17)

5

5

104

NICOLAY

VALUEV

47-1

(34)

6

6

28

SULTAN

IBRAGIMOV

22-0-1

(17)

7

7

89

SERGEI

LIAKHOVICH

23-2

(14)

8

8

28

VLADIMIR

VIRCHIS

24-1

(20)

9

9

22

TONY

THOMPSON

31-1

(19)

10

10

7

ALEXANDER

POVETKIN

14-0

(11)

CRUISERWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 200 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

104

DAVID

HAYE

20-1

(19)

1

1

182

STEVE

CUNNINGHAM

20-1

(10)

2

2

300

JEAN-MARC

MORMECK

33-4

(22)

3

3

324

O’NEIL

BELL

26-2-1

(24)

4

4

130

KRZYSZTOF

WLODARCZYK

38-2

(28)

5

5

64

ENZO

MACCARINELLI

28-1

(21)

6

6

59

FIRAT

ARSLAN

28-3-1

(18)

7

7

54

MARCO

HUCK

19-0

(14)

8

8

76

VADIM

TOKAREV

24-1-1

(17)

9

9

41

DARNELL

WILSON

22-5-3

(18)

10

10

57

JOHNATHON

BANKS

18-0

(13)

LIGHT

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 175 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

79

BERNARD

HOPKINS

48-4-1

(32)

1

1

199

ZSOLT

ERDEI

28-0

(17)

2

2

225

CLINTON

WOODS

41-3-1

(24)

3

3

482

ANTONIO

TARVER

26-4

(19)

4

4

235

GLEN

JOHNSON

46-11-2

(31)

5

5

80

CHAD

DAWSON

25-0

(17)

6

6

168

PAUL

BRIGGS

26-3

(18)

7

7

409

JULIO

GONZALEZ

41-4

(25)

8

8

31

ADRIAN

DIACONU

24-0

(15)

9

9

27

STIPE

DREWS

32-1

(13)

10

10

113

HUGO

GARAY

30-3

(17)

SUPER

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 168 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

553

JOE

CALZAGHE

44-0

(32)

1

1

158

MIKKEL

KESSLER

39-1

(29)

2

2

273

ANTHONY

MUNDINE

29-3

(22)

3

3

88

LUCIAN

BUTE

21-0

(17)

4

4

159

JEFF

LACY

23-1

(17)

5

5

130

LIBRADO

ANDRADE

26-1

(20)

6

6

79

CARL

FROCH

22-0

(18)

7

7

66

ALLAN

GREEN

25-1

(18)

8

8

36

SAKIO

BIKA

25-3-2

(15)

9

9

61

DENIS

INKIN

32-0

(24)

10

10

10

JEAN

PASCAL

20-0

(14)

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 160 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

54

KELLY

PAVLIK

32-0

(29)

1

1

136

WINKY

WRIGHT

51-4-1

(25)

2

2

147

ARTHUR

ABRAHAM

25-0

(20)

3

3

235

JERMAIN

TAYLOR

27-1-1

(17)

4

4

221

FELIX

STURM

28-2-1

(12)

5

5

74

JAVIER

CASTILLEJO

61-7

(41)

6

6

122

SEBASTIAN

SYLVESTER

27-2

(13)

7

7

80

AMIN

ASIKAINEN

22-1

(15)

8

8

8

RANDY

GRIFFIN

24-1-3

(12)

9

10

4

RAYMOND

JOVAL

37-4

(16)

10

1

JOHN

DUDDY

23-0

(17)

JR.

MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 154 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

75

CORY

SPINKS

36-4

(11)

2

2

126

ROMAN

KARMAZIN

36-2-1

(23)

3

3

84

OSCAR

DE LA HOYA

38-5

(30)

4

4

71

VERNON

FORREST

40-2

(29)

5

6

23

JOACHIM

ALCINE

30-0

(19)

6

5

106

SERGEI

DZINDZIRUK

34-0

(22)

7

7

49

TRAVIS

SIMMS

25-1

(19)

8

8

129

IKE

QUARTEY

37-4-1

(31)

9

9

278

VERNO

PHILLIPS

41-10-1

(21)

10

10

6

SERGIO

MARTINEZ

40-1-1

(21)

WELTERWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 147 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

88

FLOYD

MAYWEATHER

39-0

(25)

1

1

54

MIGUEL

COTTO

31-0

(25)

2

2

81

PAUL

WILLIAMS

33-0

(24)

3

3

44

SHANE

MOSLEY

44-5

(37)

4

4

335

ANTONIO

MARGARITO

35-5

(25)

5

5

187

ZAB

JUDAH

36-5

(25)

6

6

176

KERMIT

CINTRON

29-1

(27)

7

7

139

LUIS

COLLAZO

27-3

(13)

8

8

36

JOSHUA

CLOTTEY

32-2

(19)

9

9

20

JACKSON

BONSU

26-1

(23)

10

10

133

OKTAY

URKAL

38-4

(12)

JR.

WELTERWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 140 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

243

RICKY

HATTON

43-1

(31)

1

1

147

JUNIOR

WITTER

36-1-2

(21)

2

2

26

PAUL

MALIGNAGGI

23-1

(5)

3

3

21

GAVIN

REES

27-0

(13)

4

4

264

VIVIAN

HARRIS

28-3-1

(18)

5

5

88

SOULEYMANE

M’BAYE

36-2-1

(21)

6

6

199

LOVEMORE

NDOU

45-9-1

(30)

7

7

75

JUAN

LAZCANO

37-4-1

(27)

8

8

72

DEMETRIUS

HOPKINS

28-0-1

(11)

9

9

15

RICARDO

TORRES

32-1

(28)

10

10

7

KENDALL

HOLT

22-2

(12)

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 135 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

155

JOEL

CASAMAYOR

35-3-1

(21)

1

1

191

JUAN

DIAZ

33-0

(17)

2

2

75

DAVID

DIAZ

33-1-1

(17)

3

3

62

JOSE

SANTA CRUZ

25-3

(14)

4

4

191

JULIO

DIAZ

34-4

(25)

5

5

62

NATE

CAMPBELL

31-5-1

(25)

6

6

43

MICHAEL

KATSIDIS

23-0

(20)

7

9

61

YURI

ROMANOV

20-2

(13)

8

AMIR

KAHN

15-0

(12)

9

8

118

ZAHIR

RAHEEM

28-2

(16)

10

10

29

ANTHONY

PETERSON

24-0

(17)

JR.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 130 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

130

MANNY

PACQUIAO

45-3-2

(35)

2

2

39

JUAN

MANUEL MARQUEZ

48-3-1

(35)

3

3

65

JOAN

GUZMAN

28-0

(17)

4

4

71

EDWIN

VALERO

22-0

(22)

5

5

42

HUMBERTO

SOTO

43-6-2

(27)

6

6

298

JORGE

BARRIOS

47-3-1

(34)

7

7

32

ALEX

ARTHUR

25-1

(19)

8

8

19

YODSANAN

NANTHACHAI

50-3-1

(39)

9

9

12

MZONKE

FANA

27-3

(10)

10

10

10

CASSIUS

BALOYI

34-3-1

(18)

FEATHERWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 126 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

176

CHRIS

JOHN

40-0-1

(21)

2

2

42

ROBERT

GUERRERO

21-1-1

(14)

3

3

213

INJIN

CHI

31-3-1

(18)

4

4

84

HIROYUKI

ENOKI

27-0-1

(19)

5

5

57

JORGE

SOLIS

32-1-2

(23)

6

6

36

NAOKI

MATSUDA

27-7-3

(10)

7

7

22

STEVEN

LUEVANO

34-1

(15)

8

8

21

JORGE

LINARES

24-0

(15)

9

9

53

MARTIN

HONORIO

24-4-1

(12)

10

10

82

NICKY

COOK

27-1

(15)

JR.

FEATHERWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 122 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

309

ISRAEL

VAZQUEZ

42-4

(31)

1

1

41

RAFAEL

MARQUEZ

37-4

(33)

2

2

144

CELESTINO

CABALLERO

28-2

(19)

3

3

106

DANIEL

PONCE DE LEON

34-1

(30)

4

4

110

STEVE

MOLITOR

25-0

(10)

5

5

91

SOMSAK

SITHCHATCHAWAL

53-2-1

(43)

6

6

140

SERGIO

MANUEL MEDINA

29-1

(17)

7

7

78

TAKALANI

NDLOVU

27-4

(17)

8

8

25

POONSAWAT

KRATINGAENGGYM

30-1

(20)

9

9

16

KIKO

MARTINEZ

17-0

(14)

10

10

32

REY

BAUTISTA

24-1

(18)

BANTAMWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 118 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

137

HOZUMI

HASEGAWA

22-2

(7)

2

2

635

VEERAPOL

SAHAPROM

58-3-2

(42)

3

3

74

WLADIMIR

SIDORENKO

20-0-2

(7)

4

4

266

SILENCE

MABUZA

20-2

(16)

5

5

18

GERRY

PENALOSA

52-6-2

(35)

6

6

40

JHONNY

GONZALEZ

35-6

(29)

7

7

25

RICARDO

CORDOBA

31-1-2

(20)

8

8

11

JOSEPH

AGBEKO

25-1

(22)

9

9

66

SIMONE

MALUDROTTU

25-1

(10)

10

10

23

LUIS

PEREZ

25-2

(16)

JR.

BANTAMWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 115 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

392

MARTIN

CASTILLO

33-2

(17)

2

2

298

ALEXANDER

MUNOZ

31-2

(27)

3

3

73

NOBUO

NASHIRO

10-1

(6)

4

4

65

CRISTIAN

MIJARES

33-3-2

(14)

5

5

278

FERNANDO

MONTIEL

35-2-1

(26)

6

6

64

JORGE

ARCE

48-4-1

(37)

7

7

176

KATSUSHIGE

KAWASHIMA

32-6

(21)

8

8

9

DIMITRI

KIRILOV

29-3

(9)

9

9

158

JOSE

NAVARRO

26-3

(12)

10

10

28

Z

GORRES

27-2-1

(15)

FLYWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 112 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

23

NONITO

DONAIRE

19-1

(12)

2

2

85

DAISUKE

NAITO

32-2-2

(20)

3

3

352

PONGSAKLEK

WONJONGKAM

65-3

(34)

4

4

139

TAKEFUMI

SAKATA

31-4-2

(15)

5

5

278

OMAR

NARVAEZ

25-0-2

(16)

6

6

217

VIC

DARCHINYAN

29-1

(23)

7

7

54

ROBERTO

VASQUEZ

24-2

(17)

8

1

DENKAOSAN

KAOVICHIT

40-1-1

(16)

9

9

41

JOSE

LOPEZ

35-7-2

(29)

10

10

20

KOKI

KAMEDA

16-0

(11)

JR.

FLYWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 108 pounds

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

C

C

16

IVAN

CALDERON

30-0

(6)

1

1

189

ULISES

SOLIS

25-1-2

(19)

2

2

134

HUGO

CAZARES

25-4-1

(19)

3

3

27

GIOVANNI

SEGURA

18-0-1

(14)

4

4

47

EDGAR

SOSA

30-5

(16)

5

5

70

OMAR

NINO

24-2-1

(10)

6

6

37

DANIEL

REYES

39-5-1

(30)

7

7

342

NELSON

DIEPPA

24-4-2

(13)

8

8

118

BRIAN

VILORIA

19-2

(12)

9

9

64

OMAR

SALADO

17-0-2

(9)

10

1

BRAHIM

ASLOU

23-2

(9)

STRAWWEIGHTS

Weight Limit: 105 pounds

Champ: Vacant

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Record

1

1

223

YUTAKA

NIIDA

22-1-3

(8)

2

2

23

FLORANTE

CONDES

22-3-1

(20)

3

3

37

OLEYDONG

SITHSAMERCHAI

24-0

(8)

4

4

201

EAGLE

KYOWA

18-2

(6)

5

5

189

MUHAMMAD

RACHMAN

61-6-5

(31)

6

6

137

KATSUNARI

TAKAYAMA

18-3

(7)

7

7

6

ROMAN

GONZALEZ

15-0

(15)

8

8

11

DONNIE

NIETES

22-1-3

(13)

9

9

138

RODEL

MAYOL

23-2

(18)

10

10

16

OMAR

SOTO

13-1-1

(6)

POUND-FOR-POUND

This

week

Last

Week

Weeks

in

Ratings

Fighter

Weight

Class

1

1

467

FLOYD

MAYWEATHER

Welterweight

2

2

210

MANNY

PACQUIAO

Jr.

Lightweight

3

3

39

JUAN

MANUEL MARQUEZ

Jr.

Lightweight

4

4

79

BERNARD

HOPKINS

Lt.

Heavyweight

5

5

93

JOE

CALZAGHE

Super

Middleweight

6

6

19

ISRAEL

VAZQUEZ

Jr.

Featherweight

7

7

27

MIGUEL

COTTO

Welterweight

8

8

133

RICKY

HATTON

Jr.

Welterweight

9

9

192

WINKY

WRIGHT

Middleweight

10

10

101

RAFAEL

MARQUEZ

Jr.

Featherweight