This has the potential to be one of the most interesting fights of this year. The declining, free-swinging banger Mayorga (27-5-1) is probably the most entertaining fighter of this generation by the way that he doesn't care if he wins or loses, he just wants to make you look like less of a man than he is. Michelle Piccirillo is a very good fighter at 44-2; he is
out to be a champion again but does he have the gusto and smarts to beat former WBC and WBA welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga? Yes. Here is why. Mayorga has not been in a stage setting fight since December of 2003 when he lost and gave away a twelve-round majority decision to Cory Spinks by getting two points deducted on the scorecards and lost his cool as well as his respect to many of his fans. More...
Bernard Hopkins' twenty-first title defense ended with him on the losing side for the first time in twelve years. Jermain Taylor walked in victory and gained the undisputed middleweight title in only his fourth year as a professional. The judges’ tally had it 116-112 for Hopkins, 115-113 Taylor and 115-113 for Taylor. The main point in this fight should not be Taylor's skills, but how Hopkins just miscalculated his way out of boxing royalty. Taylor took control in the first round as he landed a ramrod right hand across the face of Hopkins to send a little message, as Hopkins traditionally starts slow and remained gun-shy. The second and third rounds had Taylor doing more of the same with him popping his jab and scoring easily to keep Hopkins at bay. Hopkins was thinking this whole time that he was still in control and to his credit, remained poised and confident. With the crowd aiding Taylor's charge, I had him up six rounds to one after seven, with Taylor landing the more aggressive shots and outworking Hopkins. Hopkins, as he always does, started to come on strong and started waiting for opportunities to counter-punch and was getting off some nice right crosses as well as showing his ring generalship. More...
Vernon Forrest was always the type of fighter that nobody wanted to fight. At six-feet and possessing a seventy-three inch reach, he could concoct a game plan to master any fighter. He was a fighter forever overlooked when it came to big paydays and glory. After turning professional in 1992, he sifted along for the better part of a decade before getting a title shot. For a fighter with an Olympic background and a beating of one “Sugar” Shane Mosley in the Olympic trials, Forrest ended up left behind along the road to superstardom. In August of 2000, he got his first title shot with Raul Frank which ended in a no-contest but came back the following May and shut out Frank over twelve rounds to finally pick up the IBF world welterweight title he worked so hard for. After a successful defense against a limited Edgar Ruiz, it was finally time to unify the belts. This time nobody could duck him anymore and on the grand stage, his star shone the brightest. In January of 2002, Forrest matched up against the new face of boxing, Shane Mosley. More...
Perhaps you might not know who Kassim Ouma is. But I can tell you that he just might be the best light middleweight in the world. Kassim Ouma (21-1-1, 13KOs) was on the fast track to superstardom before being laid out by Agustin Silva in November 1999 and has since had to prove to the fans and critics that he is for real. Kassim has had a tough life; he was forced to be a boy soldier at the age of seven and was yanked out of Elementary School to serve ten years in the National Resistance Army in Uganda. I don't care what anyone says about his boxing, this man is tough. He was an instructor and saw war first hand, his storyline is there, you just need to embrace him; he possesses great skill, and exudes confidence and just wants to fight a big name. With no big names in the division right now with the departures of Fernando Vargas and Oscar de la Hoya, he looks to go after the big fight. He takes on Roman "Made in Hell" Karmazin on July 14 in defense of his title. More...
Oscar de la Hoya is thirty-two-years-old, has more money than God and movie star good looks. He is also a six-division champion, Olympic gold medalist and hero to many. But why have so many critics been so skeptical of Oscar's career? He has done everything the people have wanted and even challenged Adonis middleweight Bernard Hopkins, giving a brave effort
before succumbing by a ninth round knockout. From 1995 through to 1998, Oscar gave us a dominating run into the record books, making himself the biggest draw south of the heavyweight division and capturing hearts along the way. Oscar is a man of many endeavors and not afraid to try new things, but the question remains: why come back, especially now? Well, based on my opinion, it is because he is still young and still has his legs. He has more to offer the sport than his former foes Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley and more recently on the comeback trail Fernando Vargas. What benefits "The Golden Boy" is that he has never fallen or allowed himself to be a victim of a savage ring beating, which bodes well for his mind and his legendary ring generalship. He is one of only a handful of men who could take fifteen months off and come back to take a champion's title. More...
Shane Mosley came back to us in April with a victory over little-known David Estrada; it was his first victory in over fifteen months. Shane Mosley started out as the unbeatable and invincible 135-pound rocket that won the IBF lightweight title in August of 1997 from Phillip Holiday and made seven successful defenses of that title,
all by knockout. "Sugar Shane" was almost invincible with his incredible hand speed and seemingly unbeatable formula. After his victory over Oscar de la Hoya in the summer of 2000, he was set to be the new face of boxing. But Vernon Forrest changed all that with two sound ring schoolings in January and July of 2002. Mosley seemed to be a fighter who could not adapt to a specific strategy and this proved to be evident in his outings with Ronald “Winky” Wright. More...
Samuel Peter (23-0, 20KOs) takes on Taurus Sykes (23-1-1, 6KOs) for the NABF and USBA heavyweight titles. In the weak heavyweight division, I see him as the best natural and gifted fighter there is today. Peter is only twenty-four-years-old and was
an Olympic quarterfinalist at the 2000 games. He possesses speed, power and a brooding presence in the ring. I might be nuts saying this but he reminds me of a more intelligent, cool-headed and much smarter version of former heavyweight, the now incarcerated Ike Ibeabuchi. Some even think that the best fighter in the division is still in prison and that is bad for a coveted division. Since the retirement of Lennox Lewis, the heavyweight division has been trashed and the topic of many boxing conversations for its lack of depth and champions.
Join us for the “Big Debate” with David Shipman arguing for Samuel Peter and Jim Cawkwell for Taurus Sykes.More...
Only July 16, an intriguing match-up will take place. Call it historical; call it whatever you wish but this just might be the changing of the guard for an old warrior. Bernard Hopkins (46-2-1, 32 KOs) will square-off against the brightest middleweight prospect this decade in Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor (23-0, 17 KOs) in what figures to be a good match-up. "The Executioner" owns four middleweight title belts and holds wins over future hall-of-famers such as Felix Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya. Jermain has blown out virtually every fighter he has faced including a twelve round win over former three-time WBA middleweight champion William Joppy. Taylor's management team has to be thinking if this is a bad move for their young twenty-six-year-old fighter because they are facing a fighter who has not lost since May 22, 1993 against fellow hall-of-famer Roy Jones. History tells us that seemingly unbeatable foes can easily be outclassed and beaten badly on any given night, which means that the question remains: will the stars be aligned on the night for Taylor to be the undisputed middleweight champion? More...
In 1995, many people regarded Arturo Gatti as one of the best prospects to come along in years. At 25-1, with only one loss coming in 1992 at the beginning of his career to King Solomon, he won the title in dramatic fashion against Tracy Harris Patterson that saw him
garner a split decision victory and the IBF super featherweight title. After five successful defenses, the stars seemed well aligned for dominating runs through the annals of boxing history. But a funny thing happened: fate. Changes in Arturo's lifestyle (and he will be the first to tell you this) caused him to party hard and fully cherish his title instead of training hard and often. He took the first couple of months off and decided to just go all out the remaining ten weeks before the fight actually started. Enter his down period. After his thrilling knockout win over Gabe Ruelas, which saw him come back from oblivion to pull out a fifth round knockout, he lost three consecutive fights. One to Angel Manfredy, a bad beating stopped on cuts. The next two losses came against Ivan Robinson. They were both close losses, but it was evident that Gatti clearly lost. Gatti then destroyed a lighter Joey Gamache, a fight in which Gamache hit the canvas seven times, suffered serious injuries and retired after the fight. By 2000, Gatti held a reputation as nothing more than a shopworn former champion and it was clear that he was eventually going to retire or stay around for prospects to feed on. More...
Floyd Mayweather steps into the ring this Saturday night to face future IBHOF boxer Arturo Gatti (39-6, 30KOs) to determine if he is really the type of fighter that he wants to prove to the public he is. Sure, he is undefeated. He sports a 33-0 record with 22 KOs, but the one thing that concerns me about him is his arrogance and the resentment he shows. It is evident by his press conferences that he is not mature enough for his great fame and that could be his undoing. I offer this for Floyd as a sign of bringing him back to earth on his so-called god-like proclamations. Flashback to April 20, 2002 and his fight against Jose Luis Castillo who, coming into that fight was not expected to win or even mount a successful defense. I saw Floyd bullied around the ring and get outworked, out-jabbed, and outclassed, but the funny thing was that the scorecard read reversely, 116-111, 115-111, and 115-111, all for "Pretty Boy." It was clearly evident that it was the right score but not for the right fighter. Jose Luis Castillo clearly won seven of the twelve rounds and landed the harder shots. The second fight for the cocky twenty-five-year-old Mayweather saw him win this one more convincingly against Castillo, hushing all doubters, but what was lost is the fact that Castillo, a slow Mexican brawler, almost dominated the champion. More...
