Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo - Round Ten - May 7, 2005

Diego Corrales Dies in Motorcycle Accident



CLICK ABOVE FOR VIDEO OF DIEGO CORRALES vs. JOSE LUIS CASTILLO - MAY 7, 2005 - ROUND TEN

Video: Rocky Balboa - Official Trailer

It's been 30 years since the original Rocky arrived on the scene. Heck, it's been 16 years since Rocky V. Sylvester Stallone is 60 years old. Must be time for Rocky VI! Rocky Balboa (they've dropped the Roman numerals) hits the theatres tomorrow. You're not proud of it but admit it, you want to see it. It's the ultimate guilty pleasure. Resistance is futile . . .

CLICK BELOW FOR ROCKY BALBOA - OFFICIAL TRAILER

Video: Larry Holmes Attacks Trevor Berbick

Following the murder of Trevor Berbick, the media coverage of his career is understandably focused on his win over a washed-up Muhammad Ali and his loss to an up-and-coming Mike Tyson. What has gone completely unmentioned was Berbick’s role in one of the most bizarre moments in boxing history. (Click here for complete details on Larry Holmes attacking Trevor Berbick).

CLICK BELOW FOR VIDEO OF LARRY HOLMES ATTACKING TREVOR BERBICK

Video: Mike Tyson vs. Trevor Berbick

Former heavyweight champ Trevor Berbick, 52, has died from chop wounds to the head after being attacked in a church courtyard in his native Jamaica. Berbick was reportedly wounded with either a hatchet or a machete after attending a party. (cont.)

CLICK BELOW FOR VIDEO OF ENTIRE MIKE TYSON - TREVOR BERBICK BOUT ON NOV. 22, 1986

Video: Mike Tyson - Corey Sanders Exhibition

Mike Tyson is back ... sort of. The "Mike Tyson World Tour" is officially underway but - after a decidedly lackluster kick-off - it's unclear if there will be much demand for additional stops. (cont.)

CLICK BELOW FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF MIKE TYSON - COREY SANDERS EXHIBITION BOUT

Incredible Expanding Fighters

Historically, a boxer tends to gain weight over the course of his career. James Toney, however, has taken gaining weight and raised it to an art form. In fact, Toney's expanding midsection makes George Foreman's legendary battles with the scale seem positively lightweight by comparison. Toney entered the ring for his recent heavyweight title fight against Hasim Rahman a full 80 pounds - or 51%! - above his lowest weight as a pro. Take a look at Toney's weight gain and compare it to those of other notable fighters whose weights have fluctuated widely during their ring careers ...
CLICK HERE FOR INCREDIBLE EXPANDING FIGHTERS.

Boxing's Top 25 Prospects Under 25

Last February, we looked at "Boxing's Next Generation" and tried to predict which young fighters represented the "future" of the sport. Just one year later and two fighters from that list - Jermain Taylor and Ricky Hatton - have already defeated future Hall of Famers and find themselves comfortably slotted among the Top Ten Pound-for-Pound fighters in the world today. So who are today's most talented young prospects? Who will boxing fans be watching on PPV in the coming years? To qualify for this list a boxer must be under 25 years of age and must not have appeared in a WBC, WBA, IBF or WBO title fight. Here they are - Boxing's Top 25 Under 25.
CLICK HERE FOR BOXING'S TOP 25 UNDER 25.

Dozen Dream Fights for 2006

2005 was yet another up-and-down year for the sport of boxing. Sure, it had its moments (like Corrales-Castillo I), but it would have been much better if fight fans got to see more of the fights they really wanted to see. So here are 12 fights for the next 12 months to make sure 2006 is a year to remember. The good news for fight fans is that nine of these bouts are already scheduled (or at least being actively discussed).
CLICK HERE FOR PREDICTIONS ON ALL 12 FIGHTS.

Lance Armstrong Joins Rocky Marciano

Lance Armstrong recently made cycling history by winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France. Armstrong also joined a very small number of professional athletes by retiring on top. That is, of course, assuming that Armstrong is true to his word and really HAS retired from the sport. If Armstrong were a boxer, it would be hard to take him at his word. Why? Boxers – especially the great ones - are notorious for retiring and un-retiring over and over again. Rocky Marciano is boxing’s closest parallel to Armstrong in terms of leaving on top. So how did some other all-time great fighters do in their FINAL fights? Let’s take a look . . .
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

New (PPV) Kid on the Block

There’s a new kid on the boxing pay-per-view block and it’s … ESPN! That’s right, the same folks who bring you SportsCenter and Friday Night Fights have decided to go head-to-head with HBO and Showtime. The network’s first PPV card is scheduled for Friday, April 23 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and it looks like a good one. All four bouts on the card involve quality fighters and could go either way – a nice change for fight fans who have become accustomed to accepting just one – or possibly two – decent fights on a PPV card (or zero, as was the case with the April 9 card “highlighted” by the Marco Antonio Barrera-Mzonke Fana mismatch). Equally refreshing is the price tag – “just” $29.95 rather than the now typical $39.95 - $49.95. Let’s just hope this is not a teaser price for ESPN’s debut, but rather an attempt to provide better value for the boxing fan’s dollar.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Hang ‘Em Up … Please!

In most professional sports – baseball, basketball, football – an athlete that can no longer get the job done finds himself out of work because he can’t help a team win. Yet it's not uncommon for a professional boxer to fight long past his prime. In fact, it's all too common. So, which current fighters fall into this category? Here is an extremely subjective list of a dozen fighters who should retire immediately.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Preview: Erik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao

Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao square off on March 19 and it will shock no one if their battle produces an early candidate for fight of the year. All 14,500 seats at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas are expected top be sold at prices of up to $400. And HBO will likely generate great pay-per-view “buys” - even at $44.95 a pop - as both fighters have huge, loyal followings in their native countries (Mexico and the Philippines, respectively). So what’s going to happen when these two superstars meet in the ring?
CLICK HERE FOR IN-DEPTH PREVIEW AND PREDICTION FOR MORALES VS. PACQUIAO.

What Does Fernando Vargas Have Left?

Love him or hate him, everyone watches when "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas fights. Vargas is revered by his fans as a proud and confident warrior who gives his all in each and every bout. Detractors, however, view him as a loud mouth who has come up just short when faced with elite competition. So how will Vargas fare when he returns to the ring against Raymond Joval on March 26 after over 15 months of inactivity due to back problems? And what does the future hold for this 27-year-old fan favorite?
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Bernard Hopkins: Greatest Middleweight Ever?

Undisputed middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins, fresh off a typically methodical unanimous decision over Howard Eastman, has successfully defended his title an incredible 20 consecutive times. In an era of alphabet titles, Hopkins’ victory over Eastman also represented the first time a fighter had ever defended the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles. For many years, Bernard Hopkins resented what he felt was a lack of appreciation by the boxing public. After stopping both Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya for the first times in their respective careers, a lack of respect is no longer an issue. Hopkins is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today – unprecedented for a 40-year-old. In fact, the discussion surrounding Hopkins now centers on just where he belongs among the greatest middleweights of all-time. So, just where does he belong?

The middleweight division has been home to some of the greatest fighters in history, including Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Carlos Monzon and Marvin Hagler. Other great middleweights include Mickey Walker, Charley Burley, Jake LaMotta, Stanley Ketchel, Marcel Cerdan and Tony Zale. Sugar Ray Leonard and Roy Jones Jr. were also champs at 160, though they enjoyed the majority of their success in other weight classes.

While critics cite a lack of quality opposition as a knock on Hopkins, it’s not his fault that the division was less than stellar for much of his career. Also, much like Roy Jones in the light heavyweight division, Hopkins played a large role in creating the impression that his fellow middleweights were a mediocre bunch. Here are the victims of Hopkins middleweight reign:

01/27/96 - Steve Frank - KO1
03/16/96 - Joe Lipsey - KO4 – Lipsey was 25-0 at the time.
07/16/96 - Bo James - KO11
04/19/97 - John David Jackson - KO7
07/20/97 - Glencoffe Johnson - KO11 – Johnson was 32-0 at the time and recently defeated Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver.
11/18/97 - Andrew Council - W12
01/31/98 - Simon Brown - KO6 – Brown was a former champ at 147 and 154.
08/28/98 - Robert Allen - NC4
02/06/99 - Robert Allen - KO7
12/12/99 - Antwun Echols - W12
05/13/00 - Syd Vanderpool - W12
12/01/00 - Antwun Echols - KO10
04/14/01 - Keith Holmes - W12 – Holmes was WBC champ at the time.
09/29/01 - Felix Trinidad - KO12 – Trinidad was 40-0 at the time.
02/02/02 - Carl Daniels - KO11 – Daniels was a former champ at 154.
03/29/03 - Morrade Hakkar - KO9
12/13/03 - William Joppy - W12 – Joppy was WBA champ at the time.
06/05/04 - Robert Allen - W12
09/18/04 - Oscar De La Hoya - KO9
02/19/05 - Howard Eastman - W12

Not exactly the level of competition that Sugar Ray Robinson or Marvin Hagler faced, but not exactly a bunch of stiffs either. Hopkins’ style also has something to do with the perception that his opposition has been weak. Similar again to Roy Jones, Hopkins’ goal in each and every fight is to inflict punishment on his opponent while absorbing as little return fire as possible. A great formula for longevity. Not so great if your goal is to be a fan favorite. A typical Hopkins fights is a one-sided clinic -- tactically brilliant but lacking in drama.

So, back to the question of where he ranks among the all-time greats. Hopkins is a consummate professional with no real weaknesses in the ring. He’s a strong middleweight who – except for a few fights at the very beginning of his career – has never fought at any other weight. There’s every reason to believe that Hopkins would have been very competitive with any middleweight who has ever lived. Hopkins has never been knocked out so, while he may have stopped several of the great middleweights of the past inside the distance, he would make it to the final bell (12 or 15 rounds) against all of them – even Sugar Ray Robinson.

Hopkins would be considered a favorite against Mickey Walker, Charley Burley, Jake LaMotta, Stanley Ketchel, Marcel Cerdan and Tony Zale. It’s also not hard to imagine Hopkins using his superior defensive skills to outpoint Monzon and Hagler – maybe not every time, but more often than not. Harry Greb was the dominant middleweight of his era and was Hopkins’ equal in terms of knowing every trick in the book – even resorting to “dirty” tactics if necessary. But Greb was only 5’8”. Hopkins is 6’1”. Hopkins would be able to use his physical advantages to outpoint Greb in what might very likely have been a foul-filled brawl.

Which brings us to the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all-time -- Sugar Ray Robinson. Many consider it heresy to suggest that any of today’s fighters could even compete with the legendary Sugar Ray, but that is simply not the case. No question, Robinson was a great middleweight. But he started his career at 135 and welterweight was probably his best weight. Robinson also lost 19 times (against a 173 victories!) so it was possible - incredibly difficult, but possible - to outpoint Robinson. Hopkins is definitely as good or better than some of the fighters that beat Robinson, so why is it inconceivable to think that Hopkins could have done the same? Robinson was unquestionably the better pound-for-pound fighter and fought more quality opponents than any fighter in history. However, at middleweight, Bernard Hopkins would have held his own against the greatest fighter in history.

Boxing's Next Generation

Boxing is entering a transition period -- a changing of the guard. So let’s project two-to-three years into the future when most of the current stars (Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, etc.) are out - or nearly out - of the sport. Which fighters will be among the next generation of boxing superstars? Who is going to command the multi-million dollar purses for big pay-per-view events? Here is a fearless forecast of a dozen fighters – all currently under 28 years of age and not yet "big money" fighters – who have what it takes to make the difficult transition from talented prospect to true star.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Heavyweight Tournament a Reality?

The sport of boxing is always healthiest when the heavyweight division is deep and competitive and has at least one great fighter who has captured the public’s imagination. Unfortunately, the heavyweight division is presently on life support and the public scarcely seems to care. The same could be said about the National Hockey League but at least with the heavyweight division there may be light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE.

Undisputed Champ of the Weight Classes?

The junior welterweight division is undoubtedly the hottest in boxing today. It boasts a long-reigning and likeable champ in Kostya Tszyu. The most talented fighter in the sport right now – Floyd Mayweather – has recently moved up to 140 pounds. The most consistently exciting fighter in the game – Arturo Gatti – has a title belt at 140. On top of all that, boxing’s hottest prospect – Miguel Cotto – campaigns at junior welterweight. Throw Vivian Harris, Sharmba Mitchell, Ricky Hatton, Francisco Bojado and Demarcus Corley into the mix and you’ve got one of the deepest talent pools in any single division in recent memory. And the best news of all is that these guys actually seem willing – if not downright eager – to fight each other!
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE