What’s Going On: Winter 2007-2008

ByDaxx Kahn

Recent events, upcoming bouts and rumors of the sport at a glance

Well fight fans, Christmas is almost here and if you’re anything like me this time of year, it is almost impossible to accomplish everything you need to in a single day, let alone keep up on the latest news. So here are a few recent happenings and future bouts coming up this Winter.

WBC Welterweight Champion and current Pound for Pound King Floyd Mayweather Jr., 39-0 (25), was victorious last weekend in his bout held at the Las Vegas MGM Grand with Britain’s Ricky Hatton, 43-1 (31).

While Hatton gave Mayweather one of his toughest bouts to date, pressuring “Pretty Boy” from the opening bell, Floyd showed why he is the pound for pound best in the world when he caught Hatton with a perfect left hook in the 10th round, dropping the two division champion.

Hatton made it back to his feet before the 10 count, only to be on the receiving end of another Mayweather combination that ended the bout at 1:35 of the round.

At the time of the stoppage, ringside judges had the affair scored 89-81, 89-81 and 88-82, all in the favor of Mayweather.

Former Heavyweight Champion of the World Larry Holmes, 69-6 (44), was given his just due this past Tuesday December 11 when he was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. When asked for a comment on the induction, Holmes replied, “I feel good about myself. I worked hard, I worked really hard”.

Larry who reigned as champion from 1978-1975, made 20 successful title defenses during his reign, second to only the great Joe Louis who holds the record at 25. The induction ceremony will be held on June 8 in Canastota, New York.

Doctors have cleared WBA Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev to fight. Chagaev, who was slated to face WBO title holder Sultan Ibragimov on October 13 of this year, had to pull out of the proposed unification bout when he was diagnosed with Hepatitis B.

In his first defense since claiming the belt this past April, when he out pointed former champ holder Nicolay Valuev, Chagaev will face England’s Matt Skelton, 21-1 (18). The bout is scheduled to take place on January 19, 2008 and is to be held in Burg-Waechter Castello, Dusseldorf, Germany.

Middleweight Champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik, 32-0 (29), who is set to face former champion Jermain Taylor, 27-1-1 (17), on February 16, 2008 in a non-title re-match, is looking at “Irish” John Duddy, 23-0 (17), as his first defense of the title.

“We’re looking at defending against Duddy in June,” Kelly’s promoter Bob Arum stated in a press conference, assuming that Duddy beats his next scheduled opponent Matt Vanda, 37-5, on February 2, 2008, which will take place on the undercard of the Oleg Maskaev vs Samuel Peter heavyweight title fight in Madison Square Garden.