Makings of a showdown: Lopez and Gamboa KO foes at the Garden in route to their own mini mega fight

Saturday night boxing at the theater in Madison Square Garden showcased two of the top featherweight prospects who are on the cusp of boxing super stardom.
Juan Manuel Lopez who is heralded as the next Puertorican sensation and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa are being groomed to face each other down the road and their fights which were broadcast by HBO were the perfect marketing tool for what will be a mini mega fight for the featherweight division if it materializes.

Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KOs) or Juanma as he has been nicknamed is the more touted of the two and was given a title shot at the WBO featherweight champ Steven Luevano in the main event. The champion Luevano was a tough assignment for anyone due to his solid boxing skills and long reach. He was determined to get his jab pumping in the first round and was able to give Lopez some different looks before Juanma made the necessary adjustments to close the distance between them and start connecting with hooks and uppercuts that hurt the champion. Luevano was
stunned by a perfectly placed uppercut followed by a powerful right that dropped him in his corner. The refereed stopped the fight after Luevano got up and did not respond well to the referee's commands.

Lopez was coming up from junior featherweight where he was a champion there to collect his second title in as many weight classes. In his last fight at junior featherweight Lopez went to war with Rogers Mtgawa (26-14-2, 18 KOs) and almost suffered his first KO loss in the 12th round before holding on for a decision win.

Mtgawa was brought back on the heels of that valiant effort to test the mettle of rising Cuban prospect Yuroirkis Gamboa (17-0, 15 KOs) as the chief support of the main event and was given an ice cold beating over two rounds for his trouble. Gamboa's controlled aggression, power and speed were an insurmountable combination that Mtagwa could not survive. The Tanzania born fighter via Philadelphia was completely outclassed by the former Olympian who dropped him in both rounds, seemingly hurting Mtagwa with every connected punch until referee Steve Smoger brought an end to the slaughter in the second round. Gamboa's victory was impressive considering the trouble that Mtagwa gave Lopez in their encounter but in post fight interviews both winning fighters refused to compare themselves or their performances repeating the boxing mantra that styles make fights. All the same, boxing fans are now building up an appetite to see a collision between Lopez and Gamboa.

Tragic Haitian earthquake causes ripple effects in boxing

The terrible earthquake in Haiti that has gripped the world headlines has taken its toll on the sport of boxing as well. As reported on FightNews.com, two top Haitian prospects, junior welterweight Evans Pierre (12-0, 11 KOs) and junior featherweight Johny Orisme (4-1, 1KO) are among the missing. Both of the fighters fought out of Panama but were in Haiti visiting family at the time of the earthquake.

The WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, whose family is from Haiti, suffered the loss of eight family members. His half sister Naomi and six year old niece Jessica were left homeless. Andre Berto represented Haiti in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and was scheduled to fight Sugar Shane Mosley on January 30th in a fight in which a win would have propelled him to the next level. In a prepared statement released to the media Berto stated the following, "As a result of the disaster, I am a mentally and physically exhausted and therefore I have no choice but to withdraw from my bout on January 30." And with that the entire card has been cancelled. Shane Mosley issued statements of support for Berto and his family as well as for the people of Haiti.

As a result of the cancellation Shane Mosley is now left without a fight and in the same predicament that Floyd Mayweather Jr finds himself after the collapse of his mega fight with Manny Pacquiao. Representatives from both camps have expressed interest in starting talks to hammer out a deal for Mayweather vs Mosley in the spring. As reported on ESPN.com, Mayweather advisor Leonard Ellerbe stated the following, " I know everyone is rushing to make this fight with Mosley, but I want people to know that Floyd feels awful for Berto and his family for what they and their country are going through," Ellerbe said. "That is first and foremost. But if in fact Shane Mosley is available, that's the fight that Floyd would love to make. It's no secret that Floyd has been trying to make a fight with Shane for the last 10 years." He added, "That's the fight he wants more than anything. And Floyd has instructed me and Al [Haymon Mayweather's other advisor] to make the biggest fight possible. We will be talking with [Golden Boy CEO] Richard [Schaefer]. Floyd against Shane is the biggest fight in boxing right now that can be made."

At the conclusion of Mayweather's comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez last September, Mayweather was confronted in the ring by Mosley and he did not look as willing as his advisor makes him out to be.

It will be interesting to see if Mayweather's camp will insist that Mosley undergo all of the blood testing that was at the center of dispute with Pacquiao. Unlike Pacquiao who has never been linked to performance enhancing drugs, there is grand jury testimony form Mosley himself that he used PEDs leading up to his 2003 rematch with Oscar De La Hoya.

Boxing 2009: The Year in review

2009 saw the continuation of excellent matchmaking in the sport of boxing dictated by the economic situations that have forced fans to be more picky with their entertainment dollars, forcing promoters to offer more attractive and competitive matchups to compete for the fan's attention. January 2009 produced the first fight of the year candidate between welterweights Andre Berto and Luis Collazo. This contest was in defense of Berto's WBC welterweight belt and was won by the champion by a closer than scored unanimous decision. This set up Berto for bigger fights to come down the road. The fight was topped the following week by the clear upset of the year as 'Sugar' Shane Mosley destroyed the seemingly invincible Antonio Margarito by 9th round knockout to claim the WBA welterweight crown.

What Frazier was to Ali, Juan Manuel Marquez may be to Manny Pacquiao as he continued to chase his nemesis up thru the weight classes following up on his 2008 destruction of long time world lightweight champion Joel Casamayor by meeting and defeating the young lion of the division Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz in February by spectacular 9th round knockout which saw Diaz extend Marquez to his limits before the veteran could make the necessary adjustments to gain the win and continue to put the pressure on Pac-man to sign for a rematch. This fight was voted Ring Magazine's 2009 fight of the year. The world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik came back from his 2008 loss to Bernard Hopkins at light heavyweight to defend his throne against unwilling Marco Antonio Rubio in which Rubio surrendered in a non effort after 9 rounds. Pavlik would not fight for the next ten months due to a serious staph infection to his left hand. One of the men whose name was brought up often as a potential mega fight for Pavlik was Joe Calzaghe. The long time super middlewight and light heavyweight champion announced his retirement on February 5th creating an opening for Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins, and Glenn Johnson to position for the number one spot at light heavyweight and the initiation of the Super 6 World Classis super middlewight tournament produced by Showtime to fill the void that Calzaghe left behind in that weight class.

April showers brought the end of the golden boy era for boxing as Oscar De La Hoya formally announced his retirement on April 14th. He was the top draw for the sport for the better part of two decades. Treated by every fighter within weight range as the golden fleece as a fight with De La Hoya was guaranteed to produce the biggest payday of a fighter's career and a box office bonanza both at the gate and PPV sales. A De La Hoya fight was more than a contest it was an event on the same level as the biggest fights the sport has ever known and it did not matter who his opponent was. De La Hoya will remain connected to the sport as an ambassador, promoter, and publisher. He was part of the sport's evolutionary bridge: Muhammad Ali to Sugar Ray Leonard, Leonard to Mike Tyson, and Tyson to De La Hoya. It was another end of an era this month as Winky Wright suffered one of his few conclusive losses in years, dropping a unanimous decision to punching machine and physical phenom Paul 'the Punisher' Williams.

May Answered the question of who would be boxing's next superstar after the departure of De La Hoya as the amazing Manny Pacquiao continued his rampage across weight classes challenging the world junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton and producing the 2009 kncokout of the year in 2 rounds to claim the throne and acclaim as the top pound for pound fighter in the sport. This was just the beginning for him.

The sport's former glamour division remains a family affair as the Klitschko brothers maintain control of the heavyweight division. Wladmir Klitschko, the recognized world champion, only fought once in 2009 dispatching of Ruslan Chagaev in 10 rounds in June while Vitaly Klitschko had a far more productive year rubbing out contenders Juan Carlos Gomez (by 9th round TKO), Chris Arreola (10th round TKO), and Kevin Johnson (unanimous decision). Future challenges tot he two headed Ukranian monster may come from former cruiserweight champions David Haye and Tomas Adamek who both had break thru wins at heavyweight in 2009 (UD over ginat Nikolai Valuev for Haye and a 5th round TKO over Andrew Golota for Adamek) and a blast from the past as a very well conditioned David Tua knocked out Australia's top heavyweight Shane cameron in two rounds showing his old form. The only action of note for an American heavyweight this year was the premier of TYSON the documentary covering the life of the former heavyweight king Mike Tyson in April. A sad commentary on the American heavyweight boxing scene.

The ill wind that claimed the lives of many celebrities in 2009 blew hard through the sport of boxing in the month of July claiming the lives of three of the boxing's most legendary fighters. First there was the report of the death of hall of famer Alexis Arguello out of Managuas, Nicaragua. He was the mayor of Managuas and was found dead at the mayoral palace of an apparent self infliceted gun shot to the heart on July 1st. The Nicaraguan legend was a multi time champion in the lighter ranks and engaged in legendary fights with 'the Hawk' Arron Pryor, Ray "Boom Boom' Mancini and Ruben Olivares.

Upon his retirement he had overcome drug addiction to become a political activist in his country and succesfully campaign his way into the mayor's office. He was 57 years old.

On July 11th the sport's ultimate warrior the beloved Arturo Gatti (37) was found dead in a Brazilian hotel room in what was ruled a suicide by Brazilian authorities. A ruling that is being disputed by the Canadian government and those who knew and loved the former champ. Few who saw his epic fights with Mickey Ward, Wilson Rodriguez, Ivan Robinson, and Gabriel Ruelas believe that Gatti would go down without a fight.

The final blow was delivered on July 25th when the sad news was recieved that Junior middlewight champion Vernon Forrest was gunned down in an attempted car jacking in Atlanta. The assailants were arrested and convicted of murder. An unfitting end to such a charitable and peaceful gentleman. Forrest was known for his charitable work with special needs children as well as his expolits in the boxing ring. He was the first man to cleanly defeat an in his prime and at the top of the world Shane Mosley at welterwight. He wasn't appreciated in most circles for what was at times percieved to be a boring style but he was a great technician who methodically broke down opponents or piled on points to victory. He was 38 years old at the time of his death and will be sorely missed as will all the boxing folk who passed on in the year of 2009.

September marked the return of Floyd Mayweather Jr to the sport that made him famous as he took on undersized Juan Manuel Marquez who bypassed Jr Welterweight to come up four weight classes from his prime fighting weight to fight the former pound for pounder at welterweight. Mayweather's combination of speed and size were too much for the current lightweight king. With this victory Mayweather announced his intentions to once again climb back to the top of the pound for pound rankings.

October kicked off the start of the Super 6 World Boxing Classic, an innovative tournament involving the world's top six super middleweights fighting in a round robin tournament with a point system similiar to what is used for FIFA soccer tournaments. The top man becomes the undisputed super middleweight champion and an attractive opponent for any boxer near the weight class. The first round began on October 17th as Arthur Abraham KO'd Jermain Taylor in sudden fashion in the 12th round in Germany and Carl Froch squeaked by Andre Dirrell by split decision in England.

It continued in November as Andre Ward upset the favored Mikkel Kessler stopping him on cuts by the 11th round.
Also in November Manny Pacquiao cemented his stature as the fighter of the year by defeating welterweight champion Miguel Cotto by 12th round TKO. The match up was very intriguing as it would mark the first time that Manny would meet a full fledged welterweight in his prime who was as dominant as any in recent memory. The first three rounds were very competitive as Cotto attacked Pac-man with everything he had and made it seen like the Phillipine finally bit off more than he could chew. but the fiery Pacquiao hung tough and toppled Cotto twice before grinding him down gradually and stopping him in the 12th to secure the championship and the year.

In December two old rivals, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr, both had fights in 2009 in an attempt to set up a long awaited rematch in 2010 with mixed results. The beat played on for Hopkins as he pounded out a 12 round unanimous decision agaisnt Enrique Orneales but Jones could not keep pace as he was TKO's in the first round in Australia against home town favorite Danny Green. Jones had convinced himself that he was in top form by taking out faded fighters Omar Shieka (TKO 5) and Jeff Lacy (TKO 10th) earlier in the year but was sent crashing down to earth in the land down under.

The middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik returned from his injury induced lay off to finish off challenger Miguel Espino in an exciting brawl by 5th round TKO and his proposed challenger Paul Williams engaged in this writer's pick for fight of the year against Argentian Sergio Martinez, winning by a controversial unanimous decision that warrants a rematch. Negotiations seem to be back on for the previously cancelled Pavlik-Williams bout so Martinez may have to wait for his rematch.

The year ended with a tease for boxing fans as deals were anounced and then cancelled, then rumored back on for the dream match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. As of this writing the mathc appears to be dead, cause of death is the dispute over the method of drug testing which was prompted by Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s unfounded accusations of steriod use by Pacuiao. A March date was set for the fight and now it seems will be used for them to fight other fighters instead. Pacquiao has reportedly signed on for a tantalizing fight against rugged Joshua Clottey and Mayweather in typical Mayweather fashion may fight less than scintallating Mathew Hatton.

2009 was full of action, tragedy, hope, and glory. All expected in the sport of boxing.

Welcome to my blog

Hey there fight fans and underdogs everywhere, my name is Geovanny and I am a major boxing fan, lover of life, observer of the human condition, both spectator and participant of the human race. I will be using this blog to focus on this little sport that I love called BOXING. I have a fantasy that I want to make reality and that is to bring boxing back to its former prominence by putting it back into the mainstream consciousness of sports where it belongs. For far too long it has taken a back seat to other games that have been labeled sports by major sports media.I'm talking about golf, poker, pool/billiards, etc., these activities are covered far more extensively than boxing and this just shouldnt be. It drives me nuts to no end when a so called sports expert refers to Tiger Woods as a 'warrior' for having braved the hot sun to 'battle' out a win while ignoring Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward fighting for their life under the hot lights, or Larry Holmes going 15 rounds to win his first championship with a torn bicep, or Muhammad Ali swallowing a pint of his own blood due to a broken jaw and still finishing his 15 round fight with Ken Norton, Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez spilling their blood in their trilogy, and Manny Pacquiao rampaging through men far bigger than he. Golfers get driven by golf cart and their gear is carried by a caddy. Golfers...warriors? Please. On occasion I will also use this blog to expound on my views in general but for the most part it will be used to promote the sport of boxing. I will post articles reviewing fights, promoting upcoming fights and hopefully interviews with boxing people. So I think the best way to begin is with my review of boxing in 2009.