Going into 2012, one bout near the top of every boxing fan's wishlist was for young pound for pound stalwart Nonito Donaire to take on Japanese veteran Toshiaki Nishioka.

It had been a combined 19 years since either fighter had last lost and hopes were high for the competitive matching of a couple elite 122 pound fighters.

From the get-go, Nishioka was cautious of the vaunted left hook of the bigger Donaire. Keeping his lead right hand pressed up against the side of his face, Nishioka gave himself no shot at having the competent jab needed to have even marginal success.

After the brutality of the co-main event, the chess match of the main event drew constant boos from the crowd.

Donaire tried repeatedly to invite Nishioka to open up, but the 34 year old champion seemed wary of the superior speed, power and reflexes of his challenger. Bouncing in and out firing jabs and right hands, the bout was a one way street in favor of Donaire.

As the hostilities of the crowd grew, Nishioka did nothing to change the fan's negative perception of the bout. At least not until the sixth round, when a lead left uppercut dropped the Japanese man.

Nishioka actually showed signs of life after the knockdown, pressing Donaire into the ropes but taking counters for his efforts. Nishioka reverted to his previous form in the next two rounds and the fight finally came to a close in the ninth, when he pressed the attack and took a stiff counter right hand for his troubles.

As Nishioka attempted to regain his upright position, his corner decided that they had seen enough and forced referee Raul Caiz to call a halt to the bout at the 1:54 mark.

It was an extremely impressive victory for the man dubbed the "Filipino Flash" but will unfortunately be salted by his opponent's unwillingness to engage.

Still, it was another notch on an increasingly impressive resume for one of the most talented young fighters in boxing. More...

After Andre Ward unexpectedly ran through the field of Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight tournament, there didn't seem to be many stiff challenges left on the horizon for the undefeated 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist.

A division north, the outlook was similar for fellow American, Chad Dawson, who had no marquee fights on the radar after capturing his lineal light heavyweight crown from Bernard Hopkins.

After Dawson expressed willingness to move down to 168 pounds, a premier fight between two division champions was born and was thus staged Saturday night in Oakland, California.

Expected to be Ward's toughest test as a professional, Dawson was anything but. Ward scored three knockdowns en route to a tenth round TKO.

Those weren't the only fireworks of the night; in the co-feature, lightweight belt-holder Antonio DeMarco emphatically cut short his fight with John Molina Jr. with a first round TKO victory.

In front of a rabid crowd of nearly 9,000, seemingly all cheering for Oakland's Ward, both boxers started tentatively in the first round. Since the card's inception, the boxing community had long been fearful of a boring, overly tactical bout but those fears were quickly dispelled in the second round when the left hand of Ward began finding a consistent home over the top of Dawson's low right.

With the crowd in a frenzy, Ward started to settle in. Dawson never seemed to get quite comfortable and the roaring crowd fueled Ward's momentum in what became an unexpectedly one sided affair.

Not known for heavy hitting, Ward knocked Dawson down in the third and then piled on with an onslaught that looked like it could have forced a stoppage from referee Steve Smoger. More...

Following In The Footsteps Of Past Greats?

Lucian Bute knew exactly what he exactly what he had to do this previous Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Quebec.

He had seen his idol Lennox Lewis do it previously to Hasim Rahman, and he told the crowd afterward that that was the result he was looking to emulate all along.

Instead, his four round destruction of Librado Andrade more closely resembled Roy Jones Jr.'s own 'revenge' KO of Montell Griffin, both endings coming by way of highlight reel body punches that re-affirmed their standings at the top of the division.

It's a punch that will likely be shown a thousand times for the duration of Bute's career, but just the one punch (nor the short left hand that dropped Andrade earlier in the round) does not tell the whole story.

Controversy was at the center of their first meeting thirteen months ago in Montreal. While Bute cleverly boxed on the outside, peppered an always forward moving Andrade with flashy combinations, Andrade stayed the course.

Displaying a remarkable jaw, constant motor and iron will, Andrade eventually got to Bute, badly wobbling him. After being chased back and forth around the ring by Andrade, Bute finally succombed to a running right hand from Andrade that caught him on the ropes.

With what appeared to be some assistance from referee Marlon Wright, Bute was able to escape with a decision victory. More...

© Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions

While Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. spend time sending verbal jabs across the aisle in preparation for their November showdown, Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya spent most of their time playing to their bases in San Francisco on Saturday at their afternoon press conference. The stop was the fifth of a scheduled sixth, coming off two stops in Texas as well as a pair in Chicago and New York City.

Coming off a date in Houston with a mostly Mexican fan base at hand, San Francisco presented a stark contrast as the Filipinos held the majority, and were very vocal in their support of their native son, Pacquiao. Promoter Bob Arum did nothing to sell his fighter short and stirred the pro-Pacquiao crowd into a frenzy.

"In World War II, the Philippines fought alongside the U.S. against the Japanese to keep their independence and have always been a nation of fighters." asserted Arum. "The Philippines produce the best fighters in the world, and Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter the Philippines have ever produced." More...

As one of the more decorated and dynamic amateurs in the country and runner up at the 2007 U.S. Championships in 2007, there was no one doubting that Rico Ramos was an exceptionally good boxer. What few predicted though, was that the 125 lb Olympic alternate would turn out to be one of the lone bright spots of an otherwise dismal year for the 2008 U.S. amateur class.

Ramos' amateur career was a solid one, winning the 2007 National PAL championship and finishing second, only behind eventual Olympian Raynell Williams, at the 2007 U.S. Championships in 2007 before falling just short of his goal to go to Beijing as an Olympic representative.

Instead, the Los Angeles native was brought to the Olympic training grounds at Colorado Springs as an alternate for the squad. It was there where he first flirted with the idea of going pro before the games until the decision was all but made for him.

"When they were scheduled to go to Beijing, they decided they weren't going to take any alternates with them so I decided to turn pro in Colorado Springs," recalls Ramos. With the Olympic opportunity past him, Ramos finalized plans to make his debut on a televised card in San Jose, CA on March 20, 2008.

For amateurs making the jump to the professional ranks, the transition can prove difficult. What works with head gear, larger gloves and two minute rounds doesn't always work in the pro game. For Ramos, the switch has been virtually seamless. A pinpoint puncher with exceptional speed, Ramos has a style built more for success at the pro level than the amateurs.

Ramos, who works almost entirely in combinations, which typically aren't aptly rewarded by the international amateur points system, also features something that triple digit amateur fights don't teach; aggressiveness. Many amateur standouts of the last decade, such as Terrance Cauthen, Rocky Juarez and Audley Harrison, have fallen short of expectations in the pro game simply because of a lack of aggressiveness in the ring. For Ramos, moving forward just comes naturally. More...

A week ago in Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez hit a home run that might not have been. As the ball sliced left towards foul territory, umpires, players, managers and fans all angled for the best look at the ball to judge whether or not the towering shot would be ruled a home run or a very long strike.

In the past, this would have been their only moment to rule on what the shot was. It was declared a home run immediately, and almost as soon as umpire Greg Gibson gave the home run signal, the call was argued by nearly everyone on the Tampa Bay side. In the past, this would have gone on for several minutes, the umpires would have huddled to talk, a manager would be ejected and nothing would change.

However, since the implementation of replay in baseball, Gibson was able to go behind home plate, look at replays on a television monitor and in just 2 minutes 30 seconds, the call was confirmed. Issue over, case closed. It was the first such instance of replay being used in the over 100 year history of the MLB.

A similar instance played out last month in Washington D.C. Anthony Thompson, making his long awaited comeback after over a year off, faced off with Baltimore's Ishmail Arvin. After a slow start, Thompson took control of the bout in the second round and kept his foot on the gas. He scored on the inside with power blows and never let up. When the final blows were tallied, Thompson was shown to have outlanded Arvin 2 to 1.

However, in the third round Thompson suffered a gash over his left eye. At the time, referee Malik Waleed did not see what caused the cut. This is understandable, Thompson did most of his work on the inside while Arvin was attempting to move in and out and it occurred in a flash, making it difficult to see exactly what happened.

While Waleed didn't catch what happened, ESPN cameras did. They clearly showed that the cut was caused by an accidental headbutt, which would mean that in the event of a stoppage after the fourth round, the fight would go to the scorecards where Thompson was seemingly well ahead. Yet when the fight was stopped in between rounds in the sixth, the confusion ensued. More...

Undefeated junior welterweight Ty Barnett, 15-0-1 (11), notched his 15th professional victory Thursday night in San Jose, CA, stopping Jose Cruz, 12-4-2, (8) in six rounds en route to what he hopes is a title shot in the near future. The matchup was top billing of the five fight card, the year's third installment of the Fight Night At The Tank series and was contested in front of nearly 300 fans.

Barnett, trained by Barry Hunter who also trains the popular Peterson brothers, Anthony and Lamont, was economical behind a stiff jab and a tight guard, while never taking a backwards step. Cruz, a Colombian fighting out of Rochester, New York, took the fight on less than a week's notice but received little sympathy from the Washington DC native Barnett.

The tone of the fight was set in the opening seconds when Barnett came forward with a jab and fired a straight right to the breadbasket of Cruz, a thudding shot that put Cruz on the backfoot from the get-go.

Barnett never let off the gas pedal from there, moving forward behind the jab to deliver offense with his opponent against the ropes. Sporting quick, tight punches while leaving no openings for Cruz in his defense, Barnett began to pile on in the third when he showed off his handspeed with a triple left hook to the body that excited the fans and further exasperated Cruz.

Cruz, on the other hand, had no such luck, with his offense effectively negated by the blocking guard of Barnett, resorted to just moving side to side trying his best to keep out of range of Barnett's power shots. Meanwhile, Barnett continued to take his time, working behind his jab with a continued body attack in an effort to quell the lateral movement of Cruz.

With the fight well under his control and the crowd urging more aggression, Barnett sought out the knockout the crowd clamored for in the sixth. While Cruz remained on his stool until the opening bell, Barnett seemed to read his opponent's body language and subsequently turned up the heat on the fight. More...

It wasn't too long ago when a loss to the likes of Sebastian Lujan would have been considered an upset of epic proportions and a severe blow to Jose Luis Castillo.

As the result shook out on July 30 in Southern California, it did prove a severe blow to the career of Castillo but an upset it was not.

Now in debt, out of the rankings and well past his best days as a fighter, the career of Castillo looks to be over after his latest loss.

Castillo burst on to the scene in 2000, earning Ring Magazine's Upset of the Year honors when he applied consistent pressure, coupled with his trademark tight hooks and uppercuts to defeat pound for pound candidate Stevie Johnston.

What followed was one of the most solid lightweight campaigns of our decade with wins over Joel Casamayor,
Juan Lazcano, Cesar Bazan, Julio Diaz and a highly disputed loss to pound for pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a bout in which most ringside pundits felt Castillo had won.

Yet the defining moment of Castillo's career would not come until May 7, 2005. An intriguing matchup of styles was expected, but possibly the greatest boxing match of all time was delivered.

After a toe to toe battle for 9 exhilarating rounds, Castillo put Diego Corrales on the deck twice in the 10th round and looked well on his way to putting an exclamation mark on the epic fight, but as was the case throughout the
battle, all was not as it appeared.

A big right hand stunned Castillo as the Mexican pressed forward and seconds later Castillo found himself with his hands down on the ropes, taking punches as referee Tony Weeks stepped in to end an unforgettable round and fight. More...

Fight Night at the Tank keeps going strong with second show of 2008

Boxing was back in a big way on Thursday night in San Jose, California as Goosen-Tutor Promotions presented the second installment of their 2008 "Fight Night at the Tankʼ season, held at the San Jose Pavilion. Heavyweights headlined the show as California contender Manuel Quezada, 23-4 (15), unanimously outpointed late replacement John Clark, 12-13-1 (7), over eight rounds.

Quezada, 30 years old fighting out of Wasco, CA, entered the ring looking to build on his 11 fight winning streak and the man put tasked to halt that was journeyman John Clark.

Clark, who served as a last minute replacement after prospect Teke Oruh pulled out, had lost his five bouts heading into this one but held a significant size advantage over Quezada.

The advantage did little to tip things in Clarkʼs favor though as he was never able to impose the physical difference on his smaller opponent until closing seconds of the last round.

Both men were tentative early on in the bout, with no one asserting themselves as they circled the ring. That changed in the second frame as it was the smaller Quezada who began to press forward, utilizing a stiff jab to moving Clark backwards.

A forward moving jab though was not enough to please the crowd of over 3,000 as they voiced their displeasure at the slow, plodding action in the ring.

Round five brought some renewed life into the building as Clark, a former San Francisco 49er football player, landed a jarring right hand to the top of Quezada's head that sent the Mexican heavyweight backwards. Yet the opportunity to pounce was squandered by Clark and was again put at bay with the jab and straight right hand of Quezada. More...

Quezada And Oruh Meet At The Crossroads

Boxing makes a return to the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Thursday night with this year's second installment of the popular "Fight Night At The Tank" series. Headlining the bill are a pair of heavyweights that meet at a crossroads.

For the first time in his career, Teke Oruh will be stepping into the ring without the luxury of being an undefeated heavyweight. Manuel Quezada enters this bout on an 11 fight win streak and now has his goals set on notching the biggest victory of his career.

The Nigerian born Teke Oruh started his professional career a solid 15-0 and came within one round on one scorecard of keeping his undefeated record in tact with a draw.

While just a prospect, Oruh has already shared the ring with some of the most successful heavyweights of the last 20 years. Having served as sparring partner for Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, Oruh certainly knows his way around the ring. Now faced with the task to bounce back from his first loss, "The African Prince" looks to reignite his career with a victory over Manuel Quezada.

His opponent's last fight came in March, but it was not a boxing match. He crushed heavyweight Charles Hodges, knocking his opponent out in the first round of their mixed martial arts contest.

He puts the boxing gloves back on Thursday in hopes of landing a career defining victory, looking to top his December knockout over Galen Brown. He'll have his hands full with the talented Oruh. More...

The date of March 27, 2008, doesn't immediately jump out as a landmark moment in boxing history. Verno Phillips decisioning away Corey Spinks' IBF Junior Middleweight title was a shock to some, but certainly nothing historic .

Yet the story for some isn't in the fight itself, but the way that the fight was broadcast. Live on a Thursday night in St. Louis, promoter Don King's site, DonKingTV.com, made the Spinks - Phillips fight the first world title bout in history to be broadcasted live and for free on the internet.

The card called "The Pride of St. Louis", featured rising local star Devon Alexander and the city's only current champion, Cory Spinks. It drew over a million page hits and an estimated 400,000 unique page views, making it an extremely successful launch.

The website has shown two live world title broadcasts since that time, Adrian Diaconu's WBC interim title winning effort over tough Texan Chris Henry in Romania and Yusuke Kobori's shock knockout win over former WBA Lightweight title holder Jose Alfaro.

All three bouts can still be seen on the website.Three title fights in three different countries in a span of less then two months is impressive, but those affiliated with Don King and the website think the site is just in it's infancy and only beginning to put it's imprint on the broadcasting spectrum.

Other sports have been streamed over the internet before. The NCAA men's college basketball tournament was just a click away for anyone who had an internet connection. Yet the NCAA tournament was never in danger of not being seen, with TV time at a premium for boxing.

Boxing fans without premium cable packages generally find themselves in the dark when it comes to boxing. Many boxing fans have migrated to the internet as the only way to follow the sport rather then relying on morning newspaper print or television to report the latest in the sport. This is an audience that those at Don King want to target. More...

If Rubin Williams truly was Andre Ward's first test as a professional, then he passed the exam with relative ease. Fighting in front of a restless home crowd in San Jose on Thursday night, Ward shut out his opponent before a cut forced an end to the bout at the closing of round seven.

The action started slowly, with neither fighter doing much more then exchanging jabs for the better part of two rounds. Yet even the early round jabs foreshadowed what was to be a dominant night for the 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist Andre Ward.

While Ward's jabs were fast and forceful, Williams offered slow, telegraphed jabs that placed Ward in no danger. An accidental clash of heads highlighted the action in the second round, leaving a laceration over the left eye of Williams.

Perhaps smelling blood, Ward stepped on the proverbial gas pedal in round three, switching to a southpaw stance and landing a pair of sizzling straight left hands that stopped Williams in his tracks as he attempted to move forward.

The Oakland native continued to pour it on in the fourth round, scoring his best punch of the night, a thunderous left uppercut that rocked Williams and had the crowd on it's feet. Ward poured it on a hapless Williams, landing calculated combinations of left hooks and uppercuts as Rubin lay guarded on the ropes. More...

"Become Legendary."

Those are the words of Michael Jordan, used in a commercial promoting the latest installment of the Jordan shoe series. Shown in the commercial are a whole host of sports stars, from Derrick Jeter, Terrell Owens, Carmello Anthony and Chris Paul III to the legend himself, Michael Jordan.

Somewhere in the midst of all those names is boxer Andre Ward, featured exactly halfway through the minute long commercial. That alone is enough to tell you just what type of lofty expectations are had for the 24 year old.

On March 20, Ward, 14-0 (9), will attempt to take the next step to, as Jordan says, "become legendary", when he faces off with former top rated super middleweight Rubin "Hollywood" Williams, 29-3 (16), at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The bout marks a major step up in competition for Ward, and serves as the main event for the American Metal and Iron sponsored "Fight Night At The Tank" 2008 season premier.

Ward is faced with a seasoned veteran in Williams who has been in the ring with the likes of Jeff Lacy, Antwun Echols and in his most recent outing, Allan Green. Known for his forceful jab and poignant body attack, Detroit's Williams is looking to make amends for his disappointing January effort against Green.

Williams blamed that blowout decision loss on ring rust after a year layoff. Now scheduled to be in the ring only three months since that loss, rust should hardly be an issue for the former world title challenger. Now "Mr. Hollywood" will look to be the star of the show, but will have to do so in hostile territory. More...

Upset minded Rob Calloway, 66-7-1 (52), notched perhaps the biggest victory of his career last night, beating heavyweight fringe contender Terry Smith, 30-3-1 (18), in the he headliner bout of ESPN 2's Friday Night Fights broadcast.

The clash, which took place at the Expo Center in Springfield, Missouri, pitted two heavyweights who have spent most of their careers campaigning in the American Midwest.

Terry Smith had all the momentum going into the matchup, having just scored a unanimous decision over former cruiserweight champion Kelvin Davis in May, in what many believe to be the most entertaining heavyweight scrap of this year.

That momentum however, was stifled in the very first round as a very nimble Calloway danced around on the outside and made Smith come to him while he fired straight shots down the middle. While Calloway was the smaller man, he had the speed advantage over Smith and consistently beat him to to the punch from the outside, utilizing his quick jab to establish distance.

From there, the fight followed the same pattern as the first round, with Calloway simply outworking and outhustling the Cincinatti native. Smith suffered a deep cut under his lip at the end of the second round and by the end of the third, it was bleeding all the through his mouth. More...

2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Andre Ward made yet another homecoming Thursday night, squaring off with late replacement Julio Jean in a 168 lb contest. Ward, who last fought in November, was the main draw for the 4,124 packed in the HP Pavilion in downtown San Jose.

Fighting for the third time in San Jose, Ward once again garnered all the Bay Area media attention for the entire week leading up to the card and was center stage Thursday night.

With the fans out in droves, just 30 minutes from his training headquarters at King's Gym in Oakland, Ward looked to make a statement against the Haitian born journeyman.

While it was a statement he looked for, Ward's night started out shaky. Right from the opening bell, the stocky Jean charged out of the gate with his head down, swinging wildly at Ward from the outside. More...