Andre Berto's Biloxi Blues‏‏

By Jeffrey Freeman - They say a boxer is only as good as his last fight, and in the case of Andre Berto that last fight was a valiant, but losing effort to Victor Ortiz in a 'Fight of the Year' candidate that cost Berto his WBC welterweight title, his undefeated record, and perhaps even a mega-fight with boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather.

So just how good is Andre Berto based on his last fight and what if anything did he gain by losing like he did? That depends on how you look at it, because another oft-cited boxing axiom is that when two fighters engage in a 'Fight of the Year' type fight like Berto and Ortiz did earlier this year, both fighters are generally elevated on the strength of that collective performance.

But has that really been the case with Andre Berto? Has Berto really been elevated and if not, why has he been unable to capitalize on that performance in the way that Victor Ortiz has?

Obviously by winning, Ortiz gets the glory and the next big fight with Money Mayweather but let's also look at how both fighters have conducted themselves since their fight last April. To his credit, Victor Ortiz has been nothing but gracious and respectful in the media toward Andre Berto while during this same time, Andre Berto has made veiled allegations on Twitter that Victor Ortiz was on steroids for their fight. Andre Berto has also made many inexplicable excuses for his own performance, essentially saying that he was not at his best and that it wasn't the real Andre Berto in the ring that night. Berto seems unwilling to act like a true champion and simply say he lost to the better man, with no excuses. While Victor Ortiz has done his best to win over his many critics, Berto has seemingly done everything possible to give them ammunition against him.

By his own hand, Andre Berto is in danger of becoming a forgotten fighter and although he and his promoter Lou DiBella deny this, they both seem to know it's true.

During a media conference call to promote the fight against Zaveck, Andre Berto seemed genuinely annoyed at the suggestion that he risks becoming a forgotten fighter, and shot back at this journalist by saying, "Is that what it is? You lose one fight and you're forgotten about already? Fighters like Mosley and Hopkins have shown, they lose one fight, they come back bigger than they were before. That's what blows my mind about boxing writers and just boxing in general. You lose one close fight and people act like they'll write you off. In boxing, you can turn into a superstar overnight. I had a bad night and after that fight, I had to really sit back and realize a lot of things. But I don't care what people think, or what they are gonna write, I'm just doing this for me, my family and the real Berto fans and that's it."



Said promoter Lou DiBella, "In a fight of the year candidate like the one Andre fought against Ortiz, your status is supposed to go up, not down."

That is generally true for action fighters like Gatti & Ward, but in the case of Andre Berto, his status appears to have diminished. That may have more to do with how Berto has conducted himself since the loss than with how he fights. Berto did himself no favors on Twitter with his steroid comments aimed at Ortiz, and he has done himself no favors by making excuses for the loss, and by not giving Ortiz the unconditional respect that Ortiz has so clearly given to him since their memorable fight last April. A loss to the unknown Jan Zaveck could easily put Berto in career limbo, and there is a strong likelihood that any remaining loyalty in Berto at HBO and among boxing fans would wither away as attention shifts to other fighters with more appealing styles.

IBF welterweight titlist Jan Zaveck, fighting for the first time in the United States against Berto, would like nothing more than get his name on the map at the expense of Andre Berto, "I didn't come here to America to buy or sell something. I came here to defend my title. It doesn't matter if you know me or not, after this fight many more people will know who I am and many more people will want to know who I am." 

Whatever goodwill and additional interest that he might have generated as a fighter for his gutsy loss to Ortiz has been squandered by Berto himself, and his unwillingness to accept the loss and give the proper credit to the man who beat him. Fans don't want to hear excuses after a loss, even though they might be used to them. Fans especially don't want to hear a fighter cry "steroids" after a loss. That's just bad form, and it's very disrespectful, particularly coming from a fighter who is now working with Victor Conte, founder and president of the infamous BALCO, a sports nutrition company with ties to steroid use in professional sports. For the record, Conte served prison time in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids.

Victor Conte is now a nutritionist and conditioning coach with Team Berto.

So as Victor Ortiz prepares to face Floyd Mayweather in September in Las Vegas on Pay-Per-View, Andre Berto prepares to face the relatively unknown welterweight belt holder Jan Zavek in Biloxi, Mississippi on HBO Boxing After Dark. For Ortiz, it's a win-win situation. Ortiz will be paid millions, he will fight on the biggest stage a fighter can ever hope to compete on, and he is within striking distance of becoming an elite fighter in the sport of boxing. Ortiz is living up to the saying that a fighter is only as good as last fight, and that performance against Berto has undeniably elevated his status as a fighter. Andre Berto on the other hand, is in an almost no-win situation now. If he loses to Zaveck, that will be two upset losses in a row and the people who might have been on the fence about Berto will now have a legitimate reason to move on and forget about him as a top level fighter. If he wins, he picks up the IBF welterweight title, but what comes after that? More mandatory defenses against unknown fighters? More less than scintillating fights on HBO, as is his norm?

Or can Andre Berto fully re-invent himself and become the elite fighter he dreams of becoming? Only time will tell. But by losing to Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto has given the boxing world an opportunity to pass him by and if he loses to Jan Zaveck in Biloxi, it's doubtful he could ever catch up.

Zaveck battles Berto in Biloxi on September 3rd on HBO.

"You're a witness. You're always standing around watching what's happening, scribbling in your book what other people do. You have to get in the middle of it. You have to take sides. Make a contribution to the fight. Any fight. The one you believe in. Once you start compromising your thoughts, you're a candidate for mediocrity." ~ Arnold Esptein, Biloxi Blues 1988 

 

Zavek vs Berto media conference call gets heated!

On an international media conference call today to promote the upcoming Jan Zavek vs Andre Berto IBF Welterweight Title fight, promoter Lou DiBella and Andre Berto both took exception to KO Digest's questions as to whether or not Andre Berto is concerned about becoming a forgotten fighter in the sport of boxing after losing earlier this year to Victor Ortiz. Since that fight, Ortiz of course has gone on to secure a Superfight against megastar Floyd Mayweather while Berto now faces the prospect of fighting a relatively unknown belt holder in Jan Zavek; in Mississippi of all places! DiBella called this line of questioning "disrespectful" and seemed to go into full spin mode for his fighters. Berto also refused to answer KO Digest's questions about his recent Twitter allegations that Victor Ortiz was on steroids for their fight. Dan Rafael from ESPN tried to follow up along those lines but seemed to get equally as unsatisfactory an answer from Berto, who probably wished he had never made those Tweets in the first place.

As conference calls go, this one was a heated one, and fun to be a part of.



Hit play below to hear the whole call.   

Title Bout: Alexis Arguello vs Julio Cesar Chavez

In this "Title Bout" DREAM fight between all time great junior welterweights from the past, a strange tempo for the fight was set  early in the first round when Alexis Arguello hit Chavez very low below the belt, and despite his insistence that it was unintentional, Chavez was incensed by this and from that point on fought like a man possessed. Despite losing the first two rounds and being cut slightly under the left eye, Chavez came on very strong in the third and dropped Arguello with a combination of punches for a 5 count.

Seconds later, a right cross from Chavez had Arguello down again, and in a heap of trouble. Arguello made it up by 9 and was fortunate the bell rang to end the round. With Arguello's left eye now swelling rapidly, Chavez found it easier to land punches on Arguello in the 4th and he opened a nasty gash over the right eye of Arguello who was now starting to look a terrible mess. In the 5th, Chavez quickly reopened the cut over Arguello's eye and suddenly Arguello looked like Chavez did against De La Hoya in their bloody first battle.

The referee stopped the action to have the ringside physician have a look at the cut and it was ruled that Arguello could not continue, awarding a TKO victory to Julio Cesar Chavez.

Result: 1991 Chavez TKO5 1982 Arguello
Time of the stoppage: 2:14 of round 5.
Score at the time of stoppage: 39-35, 38-36, and 38-36, all in favor of Chavez.

Title Bout: Joe Gans vs Roberto Duran

In this "Title Bout" DREAM fight between all time great Lightweight Champions, both fighters had their moments but it was Joe Gans who used his superior boxing skills to outpoint, and even outfight the game and determined Roberto Duran.

Gans took the first two rounds with his boxing skills but it was Duran who nearly ended the fight in the 3rd round as he finally caught up to Gans and staggered him with an uppercut before dropping him for an 8 count with a powerful right cross that also caused the left eye of Gans to start swelling up. Gans barely survived the round when Duran could not land that one final shot that surely would have ended it.


The 4th was fought on even terms but in the 5th, a sweet left hook from Gans staggered Duran and Gans appeared to take back control. In the 6th, Duran began to get rough with Gans and he opened a bad gash over his left eye with a punch. Between the swelling and the cut, Duran was finding it easier to connect with his power punches and control the fight. The referee took a look at Gans' eye between the 6th and 7th round, ruling that Gans was fit to continue. In the 9th round, a stinging left jab from Gans started a trickle of blood from the nose of Duran. In the 10th, a small cut under the right eye of Gans began to develop. Going into the 11th, Gans was behind on two of the three official cards and so he really turned on the gas in the 11th, outboxing and outpunching Duran with precision shots. Towards the end of the 12th, a round that Duran had controlled despite beginning to show signs of fatigue, a monster left hook from Gans put Duran on the seat of his pants for a 7 count.

Gans then swept the championship rounds to win a competitive majority decision, despite the fact that Duran reopened the bad gash over Gans' left eye in the 14th round.

Result: Joe Gans W15 Roberto Duran
Official Scores: 145-139 & 144-140 Gans, and 141-141 Even.

Title Bout: Jack Dempsey vs Joe Frazier

In this "Title Bout" DREAM fight between these two hard hitting Heavyweight Champions, Dempsey got things going early as he staggered Frazier with a powerful uppercut in the very first round. Dempsey continued his early success by cutting Frazier on the bridge of the nose and then again staggered Frazier in the 4th, this time with a powerful right cross. A frenzied Dempsey tried to finish off the hurt Frazier, but missed more than he landed and may have punched himself out a bit as in the very next round Smokin Joe came roaring back into the fight dropping Dempsey with a huge left hook for a 5 count at the end of the 5th round. The bell rang as Dempsey got up, saving him from any follow up punches.

The 6th was action packed as Dempsey was all over Frazier with vicious combinations and uppercuts, until Frazier came back by staggering Dempsey with a whistling left hook at the bell to close the round. In the 9th round, Frazier struck again late in the round with a right uppercut and Dempsey was down for the second time in the fight, this time rising at 8, but again, fortunately for him, he heard the bell to save him from further punishment. Dempsey was relentless however and he staggered Joe with a left uppercut of his own in the 10th. Dempsey started showing signs of fatigue in the 11th round and was also warned in this round for rabbit punching.

With Dempsey tiring, Joe Frazier closed the championship rounds strong, cutting Dempsey under the left eye in the 12th, and stunning him with a left hook in the 15th and final round. Frazier won a hard fought, tough majority decision over Jack Dempsey.



Result: Joe Frazier W15 Jack Dempsey
Scores: 144-139 & 144-139 Frazier, and 141-141 Even. 

As for the stats:

Dempsey and Frazier both rate highly in punching power, Dempsey gets a 9, and Frazier gets a 10, the highest HP (hitting power) possible. As for chins, Demsey's is rated a little better, his KDR1 is rated as a 2, and Frazier's rating is a 3. KDR1 is knock down resistance, the lower your score the better your chin, the less likely you are to be knocked down. Hagler for example gets a 1 for his KDR1. Dempsey has a 2, Frazier a 3. KDR2 is similar to KDR1 but is a rating that is added to the KDR1 when a fighter has been knocked down, so it reflects how much more vulnerable a fighter is after being knocked down, and for the remained of that round. Dempsey gets a 0, the best possible and Frazier gets a 1. KOR is Knockout resistance and both score a 2, with 1 being the best possible. They both have excellent endurance, but the reason Dempsey grew tired in the 11th was due to the fact that he had been knocked down twice in the fight and had another round where enough punches were landed against him to warrant a reduction in his stamina. By the 11th, he began to show signs of fatigue which included reduced hitting effectiveness and accuracy as well as a few other variables. As for defense, the range on that is -6 to +6, with -6 being the best. Dempsey's defense is Even, meaning that nothing is taken away from or added to his opponent's range of landing punches, and Frazier rated a +2 on defense, which means +2 is added to his opponent's range for punches landed.

Vera & Lee Prepare for Rematch‏

During an international media conference call to promote their upcoming 10 round middlweight fight, contenders Andy Lee and Brian Vera discussed their rematch which is scheduled for October 1st at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ on the undercard of the Sergio Martinez-Darren Barker Middleweight Championship fight. Both Vera and Lee are action fighters at heart and many expect their rematch to be the most entertaining match-up on the card. Vera won their first fight in 2008 by a somewhat controversial TKO in the 7th round in an entertaining upset that saw Lee drop Vera in the first.

A good winning performance in this fight could potentially put either fighter in a position to fight for the Middleweight Championship of the World against Sergio Martinez, who headlines the card.

KO Digest asked Brian Vera (19-5 w/ 12 KOs) if he felt in any way disappointed that he didn't get more mileage out his first big name win, a decision over "Contender" winner Sergio Mora earlier this year.

Vera responded by saying, "You know, a little bit, yes. A lot more things should come out of that. At the time, my management was a little weak, I had somebody that was very inexperienced, and I kinda left everything in his hands. But now I have a new team. I am back to loving what I do and here we are now so I don't worry about it."

KO Digest asked Andy Lee (26-1 w/ 19 KOs) what he will do differently this time against Vera and what it was like to be involved in such a war as the one he was involved in against Craig McEwan earlier this year.

Andy Lee responded by saying, "This time, I see myself boxing and moving more against Vera. But if I have to go to war, I'm coming prepared and I'll go to war. I have shown in the past that I have what it takes to do both. But I plan on boxing Vera and putting on a boxing show."

And your memories of the McEwan fight?

"The McEwan fight was a tough fight. Craig boxed really well, I've never seen him box so well. I started off well and then got kinda involved in trying to bang too much. And he picked up his boxing and eventually took over, the momentum changed, but I showed that I have what it takes to to come back and dig in at the end. That gave me great belief in myself that if I have to do that, no matter how desperate the situation, I have it inside myself, there is no quit in me. I'll keep fighting until the end."

The card, billed as “Noche de Maravilla" will air live from Atlantic City on HBO Championship Boxing.

Title Bout: Mike Tyson vs George Foreman in 1991

A fight that could have happened but never did. Until now! Mike Tyson was coming back from his upset KO loss to Buster Douglas in February of 1990 and was back on a tear through the division, stopping inferior opposition through the rest of 1990 and then stepping up with a pair of wins over Razor Ruddock in the first half of 1991. During this same time period, Big George was coming off his unexpectedly competitive fight with Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield so the fight everyone wanted to see was a natural at this point in time.

Tyson vs Foreman!

Both fighters were paid millions and knew a win would put them right back in the title picture.

Tyson won this "Title Bout" DREAM fight by TKO from an accumulation of punishment in the 4th round after dropping Big George with a vicious combination of punches early in the round. Foreman quickly got to his feet by the count of 3 but was relentlessly pounded by an onrushing Mike Tyson who showed his trademark killer instinct. With Foreman no longer defending himself and Tyson teeing off on him, the referee stepped in to stop the fight. Foreman landed a few hard punches in the 2nd and kept it close in a slow opening round but for the most part, it was all Tyson.


Result: Tyson KO4 Foreman
Time of the stoppage: 1:48 of the 4th round.
Scores at the time of stoppage: Judge 1: 29-28 Tyson, Judges 2 & 3 30-27 Tyson.

Erik Morales still loves boxing!

During an international media conference call today to promote his upcoming junior welterweight fight against top contender Lucas Matthysse, the always classy Erik Morales spoke about his love for the sport of boxing, and answered the question as to why he is still fighting at the age of 34 despite having achieved an already Hall of Fame worthy career.

Asked why he still fights on despite having lost 6 of his last 10 fights and what his motivation is for still fighting, Morales got a little feisty and responded by saying, "Tell me one fighter that's just rolled over me. With me being in my moment, with no issues and no problems, tell me, mention one name that you would say, 'OK, he's done.' One name that you can indicate that I'm done."

For the record, Manny Pacquiao "rolled over" Eric Morales in 2006 but there is certainly no shame in losing to the best fighter in the world.



So what motivates you Erik?

"The first part is because I know I can do it. The second part is because I love to do it. It's just something I love doing now, at this point in my career. It's the love of the sport, I just love boxing."

There appear to many options available for the winner in the wide open junior welterweight division.

If Morales wins, a rematch with Marcos Maidana might be in order, but if Robert Guerrero beats Marcos Maidana on August 27th, a fight against "The Ghost" could be in "El Terrible's" future.

For Matthysse, a possible rematch with Devon Alexander looms, or perhaps a fight against the winner of Guerrero-Maidana.

Or who knows, perhaps this fight will be so good and so close that a rematch against eachother is an option.

Erik Morales (51-7 w/ 35 KOs) and Lucas Matthysse (28-2 w/ 26 KOs) will do battle for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title on September 17th in Las Vegas, on the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz undercard.

The card, billed "Star Power", will air live on HBO PPV.

Hit play below to hear what "El Terrible" had to say!

Q&A with Al Bernstein on Agbeko-Mares

Through the fine folks at Ring Magazine & Ring TV, I was able to ask boxing announcer Al Bernstein about his scoring of the controversial Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko fight when Mr. Bernstein was a guest on the Ring Radio show today. Bernstein played a key role in the controversy when, as an announcer for Showtime, he began to get very vocal during the fight about the repeated low blows from Abner Mares as well as the sub-par officiating of referee Russell Mora. Just hit play to hear what Al Bernstein had to say when asked about it. 

Thoughts on Agbeko vs Mares & Mora‏

A good fight was ruined by a bad referee. That's the best way to describe what happened this weekend in the final round of the Showtime bantamweight tournament. King Kong Agbeko and Abner Mares fought hard to get to the tournament finals and when they finally fought eachother, they fought hard against eachother. The problem was the "fishy play" of referee Russell Mora. He made at least two critical bad calls and injected himself into the fight not so much by what he did, but by what he didn't do. And what he didn't do was control the repeated low blows of Abner Mares.

Challenger Mares went low early and often but Russell Mora seemed disinterested in the fouls. He did not seriously warn Mares and he certainly did not penalize him. The whole mess became even more exaggerated when Showtime announcer Al Bernstein began to make repeated note of it during the fight, and the situation reached a head when Jim Grey interviewed the referee in the ring after the fight and called him out for his bad performance point blank.

For the record, Mares won a majority decision over Agbeko, as well as the IBF Bantamweight title, but he did so on the strength of two falsely called knockdowns, and on his ability to foul all night without being penalized.

Let's be clear: Referee Russell Mora was terrible in this fight and I'm still not sure which was more of a shame to see: Abner Mares defending the referee's bad calls after the fight to Jim Grey or to hear the referee actually defending himself to Jim Grey! When Jim Grey was interviewing Mares in the ring after the fight, the new IBF Champion thanked several people, and I was seriously wondering if Jim Grey would ask Mares if he wanted to send a special thanks to referee Russell Mora! He should have because Mora was more directly responsible for his victory than anyone else, including himself.  "I never hit him low", Mares told a bewildered Jim Grey after the fight. The whole situation was a total Twilight Zone moment for everyone involved.

An otherwise close competitive fight was marred by bad and missed calls. In the first round, Agbeko slipped and it was ruled a knockdown by Russell Mora. Bad call. Through the rest of the fight Mora simply refused to enforce the rules and he allowed Mares to go low with impunity. Missed calls. In the 11th, after repeated low blows throughout the fight, Mares punched Agbeko right in the groin and Agbeko fell to the canvas fully expecting, like everyone else, that Mares would finally be penalized for a flagrant low blow. Imagine the surprise of Agbeko when Mora ruled it a knockdown and began a ten count. Bad call + missed call = worst call! At this point, Agbeko stood no chance on the scorecards, and it's a wonder he was even willing to continue fighting at all given that he truly did have to fight Mares and Mora at the same time!

By making two bad knockdown calls against King Kong Agbeko and not taking a single point from Abner Mares for repeated low blows, Mora literally took the fight from the rightful winner Agbeko and gave it to Mares. The fight should be declared a No Contest, the belt returned to Agbeko, and an immediate rematch ordered. If it had been properly officiated, Agbeko should have won by a close decision or at worst escaped with a draw. Corrupt or incompetent, or just a referee having a terrible night, I really have no idea.

Being a boxing referee is a tough thankless job. Just ask Richard Steele. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they get it wrong and Russell Mora certainly did himself no favors in the Mares-Agbeko fight. Here's hoping that in the inevitable much needed rematch, the Ghanaian native Agbeko truly channels the spirit of Azumah Nelson-Jeff Fenech II like he said he was going to do in this fight. Agbeko, like his countryman Nelson before him now has something to be fired up about, the proper motivation for a dominating performance like that, and he now knows for sure that he can't leave his destiny in the hands of judges or the referee.

Said Mares immediately after the fight, "Don't ruin my moment!"

Sorry Abner, I really couldn't help it.

I never hit you low.

Title Bout: Marvin Hagler vs Les Darcy

"ROCK of AGES"
Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs Les Darcy
Scheduled for 15 Rounds

This "Title Bout" DREAM fight featured a pair of firsts as Les Darcy was the first fighter to ever legitimately knock down Marvin Hagler, but Marvin Hagler was the first fighter to ever knockout Les Darcy! What a great fight this was while it lasted! Hagler began the fight as a southpaw and found success as a boxer. The early chess match was won by Hagler as he controlled the first two rounds, landing the better and more effective shots in each round, including a combination that staggered Darcy in the 2nd. Midway through the 3rd round though, Darcy surprised everyone by dropping Hagler with a short left hook inside. The punch legitimately hurt Hagler, who rose at 8.



Hagler held on though and even stunned Darcy to close out the round. With the knockdown seeming to only make him upset, Hagler switched from boxer to slugger and won the 4th round with effective aggression and then early in the 5th round, Hagler landed a perfect right cross that dropped Darcy to the canvas where the referee counted him out.



Result: Marvin Hagler KO5 Les Darcy
Time of the knockout: 0:36 of the 5th round.
Scores at the time of KO: 38-37, 38-37, 38-37

As for their stats: Hagler's resistance to being knocked down is as strong as the game can make it (KDR 1), as is Darcy's resistance to being knocked out as strong as the game can make it (KOR 1). It was quite surprising to see Hagler knocked down, and maybe just as surprising to see Darcy stopped. Keep in mind, it's just a simulation based on statistics and in both cases, long odds were overcome to achieve those unique results. Darcy dropping Hagler might have been the more surprising of the two however because Darcy's power, though respectable (HP7) did not cause an increase in the likelihood of Hagler being knocked down, though Hagler's power (HP9) DID cause an increase in the likelihood that Darcy would be knocked down AND also out.

And for those who might be unfamiliar with Les Darcy, the back of his fighter card reads: One of the best of the middleweights, never held the crown. The Australian welterweight champ held his own against all the fighters of his day, including Americans. He, like so many others of this time period, laid claim to the middlweight crown, but never held it officially. Darcy came to America to fight during WWI, was hounded and prevented from fighting, being called a slacker because he wasn't in the service. He died of mental breakdown and fever in 1917. He was never stopped in his career in the ring.

Next on Title Bout: Jack Dempsey vs Joe Frazier

Title Bout: The Game of Professional Boxing

Avalon Hill's classic boxing board game

By Jeffrey Freeman -- By popular demand I have dug out my old "Title Bout" boxing simulation game and will be blogging on the fights and the results. For those who may not be familiar with the game, Title Bout was introduced by the gaming company Avalon Hill in 1979. They also offered a line of other sports simulation games and their products were very well respected by gamers. There was really nothing else that even compared to what Avalon Hill was doing in terms of statistical realism, and overall fun. Title Bout is not a game of chance, there are no dice. For what it is, it's a pretty realistic simulation of professional boxing. The game was also a blast to play and I spent my youth playing it. It's been many years since I've played but I have been really wanting to rediscover it and so with my discovery of the fine folks on the Boxing History section of the BoxingScene.com forums, I have a good enough excuse now to dust it off and have a go at it. Seems at least a few others share a similar interest in it.

What I will be doing is having classic and dream fights on the game and then blogging on the action of the fight, and the results. Not sure yet what exactly that will look like as a post/blog, but hopefully it will be as entertaining for the readers as it is for me, the player/blogger.

In terms of what fighters I have access to it breaks down like this:

I have just about every fighter you can imagine from 1991 going back to the early days of the sport. All the ATGs (all time greats) are included as are a host of other top rated boxers from the past. You name the fighter, he's probably in the game. Every edition of Title Bout came with these classic fighters and they have not changed. They are considered to be "in their prime." The initial (1979) edition also came out with modern cards for all top level fighters who were active in 1979, when the game was first issued. I'm pretty sure there is a 1979 Muhammad Ali fighter card whose skills reflected on his card are nothing compared to his prime issue. I also have updated modern fighter cards that were issued in 1982, as well as updated modern fighter cards issued in 1986/87 and then again in 1990/91. What this means is that some fighters (Tommy Hearns for instance) have multiple cards from different time periods and also reflecting the different weight classes they fought in. The 1979 welterweight Hearns card is very different than the 1990/91 card featuring Tommy as a Super Middleweight on his way to Light Heavyweight.

I have resorted all the fighter cards into their appropriate weight classes and by year issued, and I am currently relearning how to play, most of it is coming right back to me like riding a bike but there are some details of game play that I will have to work out with a few "amateur" fights before I kick off the "real fights" and start blogging on them.

Title Bout lets you recreate all the great ring matchups of the past and present, with over 400 boxers individually rated for their abilities in over 20 key areas! Rewrite Boxing History. What would have happened if Rocky Marciano had fought the legendary John L Sullivan? Or if the great Joe Louis had met Muhammad Ali when both were in their prime? You can find out with Title Bout, as all the old time greats appear along with the current rated fighters in every weight class. 

Q & A with Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero.

Had a very interesting opportunity today to address Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero though Ring magazine editors Doug Fischer and Michael Rosenthal as "The Ghost" prepares for his upcoming fight against the tough Marcos Maidana. Let me explain. Fischer & Rosenthal were doing a podcast for Ring Radio and they solicited through Facebook for questions to be asked of Guerrero. Naturally, I jumped at this and was quick to submit a question, which was asked by Doug Fischer of Ring Magazine directly on my behalf. How cool is that? Below is the audio file of my question and The Ghost's reply. Enjoy!

Ring Posts

Welcome to a new monthly feature here on KO Digest called Ring Posts!

Kelly Pavlik has now officially pulled out of his upcoming fight against Darryl Cunningham and everyone is rushing to judgement and many are quick to condemn Kelly for this decision. There is much speculation that Pavlik may be drinking again, particularly after an ugly incident involving Kelly and his brother last month. Whatever the case, I think pulling out of this fight might have been the best and most appropriate thing for Kelly to do at this time, especially if he felt that the fight itself was a threat to his sobriety, or a threat to his health in any way. Perhaps this is just what he needs to put his focus where it needs to be. Honestly, I think Kelly Pavlik needs to focus on his RECOVERY, not boxing. He is still young enough and has made enough money that he can focus totally on getting well and then when he is well, focus again on boxing. I believe his comeback after rehab was actually too quick, and not enough time was spent creating and getting accustomed to a new sober lifestyle for himself and for his health. Boxing is a VERY stressful, painful endeavor; and let's face it, stress and pain is not really what anyone in early recovery needs to be successful in the long term. Good luck Kelly, I think you will find that recovery will be your hardest fight, and also your greatest accomplishment.



Speaking of fighters battling the bottle, I've met Kevin McBride several times and he really is a super nice guy, no attitude, no BS at all; so seeing him getting brutally KO'd by Mariusz Wach and then taken out on a stretcher last week at Mohegan Sun in CT, well it's just really sad to see. This was much worse than the beating he took in his last fight against Tomasz Adamek. Of course McBride needs to retire, and of course he needs to focus on his sobriety and on finding life after boxing. But can he? I sure hope he can find a way to live healthy, without becoming a hopeless alcoholic, or just another stepping stone who gets beat up for chump change. McBride's legacy, such that it is, will always be that of the man who retired Mike Tyson, and made Brockton boxing proud, again. Good luck Kevin. It's true what you always said that you came to the ring from Ireland with a lot of heart. Please get well my friend. 



I was recently thinking about the classic 1990 fight between Meldrick Taylor and Julio Cesar Chavez, and the so-called controversial stoppage. The HBO crew would have had you believe Taylor was easily winning the fight when in fact he was losing, at least in my opinion, especially with the knockdown in the 12th. Richard Steele's call, whether right or wrong, prevented (what would would have been) a bad decision on the score cards and it secured a win for the rightful winner, Julio Cesar Chavez. Even with the knockdown factored in to the final scoring (10-8 across the board in the 12th for Chavez), Taylor STILL would have won that fight had Steele not stopped it, and that would have been a terrible decision on the cards, so I have always been glad that Steele did what he did because it really was the only way for the right fighter to win that fight at that point, though I am sure Steele did not know that when he did what he did, he just saw a hurt fighter not responding to direct questions. It should also be said that HBO did a terrible job of describing the action and putting it all into proper context. They wanted a "superstar on the threshold of greatness" and that's how they were determined to describe Taylor no matter what was happening in there. If Steele had let Taylor finish the fight after the knockdown and the final bell rang 2 ticks later with Meldrick still standing, I don't see how anyone could possibly still have Taylor winning that fight, particularly with a 10-8 in the 12th round. That controversial stoppage gave the fight to the rightful winner. Meldrick Taylor was brave and he fought with incredible heart but in the end that was his undoing, not the decision by Richard Steele to stop the fight.



Regarding young new fans to the sport of boxing and how they relate with more experienced & knowledgeable fans, it's like an anything else. It takes years of watching boxing and reading about boxing history to really have a strong knowledge of the sport, and people tend to want to discuss things with people who know what the heck they're talking about. But there is room for all in the ring and there always should be. I'm a 30 year boxing fan/historian of the sport and for all intents and purposes I feel like I went to Boxing College in my teen years , and then Pugilistic Graduate school in my adulthood. All of that has made me the knowledgeable, experienced boxing fan and writer that I am today. As long as new fans show respect to the sport, to the fighters, and to the people who know more about it than they do, they should be welcomed and treated well by more seasoned fans who can teach them something and introduce new fans to the Sweet Science. That's how it's supposed to work, but the internet and discussion forums in particular complicate that and give disrespect, ignorance, and intolerance a place to thrive. Boxing is still a gentleman's sport, just not so much online. Every serious young boxing fan should make a trip to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. What you will learn and experience there can never be picked up on the internet.



Boxing vs Mixed Martial Arts? Everyone has an opinion and that debate rages on, but one thing I hear a lot is that in MMA there are too many premature stoppages to the fights. Why is that? One reason is that there are no ten counts administered to downed fighters as there are in boxing. I propose a rule change: An MMA fighter who has been knocked down from a strike (a punch) while both fighters are in the standing position shall receive ONE traditional boxing ten count in order to regain his senses and keep fighting. If he beats the count, the fight continues, if he does not beat the count it's over, just like boxing. But if he does beat it and the fight goes on, the fighter who received that ONE single ten count is no longer entitled to any more counts and if he is knocked down again from strikes while standing, his opponent is free to pounce on him. Both fighters are entitled to one count if knocked down. That would reduce early, premature stoppages DRAMATICALLY and would be no problem to enforce. MMA also needs to modify and or abolish their current scoring system which mimics boxing but does not fit the sport it's applied to because there are not enough rounds in their fights and the criteria for a 10-8 round (or 10-7 for that matter) is far from clearly defined. Maybe incremental scoring (10/9.5, 10/8.5 etc) would help, or if they are going to keep boxing's relatively archaic scoring system, add more rounds and reduce the time in a round, say five 3 minute rounds for a non title fight, and eight 3 minute rounds for a title fight? Hear that Dana?



Andre Ward should drop the nickname he has now and go with...

"The Giant Micky"...let that sink in, then have a good laugh!



See you next month with all new Ring Posts!

Current Boxing Ratings

Top 10 Pound For Pound

1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Sergio Martinez
3. Floyd Mayweather
4. Nonito Donaire
5. Juan Manuel Marquez
6. Timothy Bradley
7. Andre Ward
8. Yuriorkis Gamboa
9. Carl Froch
10. Bernard Hopkins

 




HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Wladimir Klitschko
1. Vitali Klitschko
2. Tomasz Adamek
3. Alexander Povetkin
4. David Haye
5. Ruslan Chagaev

CRUISERWEIGHT 
Championship Vacant
1. Steve Cunningham
2. Marco Huck
3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
4. Troy Ross
5. Denis Lebedev

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Bernard Hopkins
1. Tavoris Cloud
2. Chad Dawson
3. Jean Pascal
4. Adrian Diaconu
5. Glen Johnson

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT
Championship Vacant
1. Andre Ward
2. Carl Froch
3. Lucian Bute
4. Mikkel Kessler
5. Robert Stieglitz

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Sergio Martinez
1. Felix Sturm
2. Paul Williams
3. Daniel Geale
4. Sebastian Sylvester
5. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT
Championship Vacant
1. Miguel Cotto
2. Kermit Cintron
3. Saul Alvarez
4. Alfredo Angulo
5. Vanes Martirosyan

WELTERWEIGHT
Championship Vacant
1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Floyd Mayweather
3. Victor Ortiz
4. Andre Berto
5. Jan Zaveck

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT
Championship Vacant
1. Timothy Bradley
2. Amir Khan
3. Marcos Maidana
4. Devon Alexander
5. Lucas Matthysse

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez
1. Brandon Rios
2. Robert Guerrero
3. Humberto Soto
4. Miguel Acosta
5. John Murray

FEATHERWEIGHT
Championship Vacant
1. Yuriorkis Gamboa
2. Chris John
3. Orlando Salido
4. Juan Manuel Lopez
5. Daniel Ponce De Leon

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Nonito Donaire
1. Anselmo Moreno
2. Abner Mares
3. Joseph Agbeko
4. Fernando Montiel
5. Eric Morel

Period Ending July 6, 2011
~ Compiled by Jeffrey Freeman

Foreman: Hopkins must KO Pascal to break my record!‏

By Jeffrey Freeman -- Legendary former two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World George Foreman addressed the media yesterday via international conference call in promotion of the upcoming Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins Light Heavyweight Championship rematch, scheduled for May 21st in Montreal, Canada and airing on HBO. Hopkins, at age 46, is attempting for the second time to become the oldest boxer to win a legitimate world title in any division. That record is currently held by George Foreman who was 45 years old when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994 to regain the heavyweight title in a stunning upset. In his first attempt to break the record, Hopkins was held to a controversial draw by the Canadian Pascal last year in Quebec City.

Big George Foreman insisted that Bernard Hopkins must KO Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal in order to truly break his record.

"These fights are not won by decisions. Hopkins should look for the knockout like I did when I fought Michael Moorer. There is no way I could be in the record books without that one-two knockout punch. Bernard Hopkins must get it by way of knockout. He must realize that my record will not be broken on a unanimous decision. There must be a knockout."

That's a tall order for Bernard Hopkins, who is not exactly known for his knockout punch or aggressive style. Hopkins is much more of a technician in the ring, one who seems to enjoy distance fights that give him the opportunity to showcase his unparalleled boxing skills. When KO's do come, Hopkins creates knockouts, he doesn't look for them. Foreman of course, was a legendary knockout artist who is well known for his knockouts of Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, and of course Michael Moorer. Big George was a huge underdog (literally and figuratively) when he challenged Heavyweight Champion Michael Moorer in 1994. People said that George was too slow and too old for Moorer - that he stood no chance but the proverbial puncher's chance. Despite being outboxed by Moorer for most of the fight, Foreman never stopped trying for the knockout and in the 10th round it finally came in the form of a devastating right hand from Big George that instantly relieved Michael Moorer of not only his senses, but the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

There is actually some interesting historical precedence in the career of Bernard Hopkins to justify George's insistence on a Hopkins KO, or at least a Hopkins that is looking for the KO, as George always did in his career.

In 1994, Bernard Hopkins traveled to Ecuador to challenge the Ecuadorian Segundo Mercado for the vacant IBF Middleweight title. The usually sturdy chinned Hopkins was knocked down twice in that fight and held to a draw. Sound familiar? It should because in the first Pascal fight, which was held in Pascal's home town of Quebec City Canada, Hopkins was -you guessed it- knocked down twice and held to a draw. Hopkins fought Mercado again in his next fight less than six months later - this time, wisely, in the United States. Hopkins stopped Mercardo in seven rounds, taking it out of the hands of the judges, and winning his first world title.

This rematch is not being held in the United States however. Hopkins is again fighting Pascal in Pascal's backyard, this time in Montreal. Some have suggested this was not a wise decision on the part of Hopkins, and that he will have nobody to blame but himself if he comes up on the wrong end of another so-called "hometown" decision.

George Foreman knows that the best way to avoid a hometown decision is to score a knockout!

Can Hopkins do it? Can he overcome Pascal's home ring advantage and get the KO over Pascal to break the record the way Foreman says it must be broken?

Big George seems to think so, "I thought such a record would last a lot longer than it has lasted."

Pascal: Hopkins has no fanbase in America!

World Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal took a break from his training on Wednesday to address the media via international conference call in promotion of his upcoming  title defense rematch against Bernard Hopkins scheduled for May 21st in Montreal, Canada. Pascal (26-1-1 w/ 16 KOs) will be attempting to make the fifth successful defense of his WBC Light Heavyweight Championship, and the second defense of his Ring Magazine World Light Heavyweight Championship, which he won recognition for by beating Chad Dawson last year.

The 46 year old Hopkins (51-5-2 w/ 32 KOs) will be attempting to make history and become the oldest boxer in any weight division to win a legitimate World Championship. That record is currently held by George Foreman, who was 45 years of age when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994 for the heavyweight title. The Canadian Pascal and the American Hopkins fought to a controversial majority draw last year in Quebec City in a surprisingly good fight that saw Hopkins on the canvass twice but more or less in control throughout the fight, particularly the second half. Many observers felt that Hopkins did enough to win, despite being downed twice by Pascal. The fight featured an American judge (who scored the fight for Hopkins by two points), as well as a Canadian judge and a Belgian judge; both of whom scored the fight even, a draw.    

These are the basic fight facts, though you might not know it from listening to Jean Pascal rant about drug testing and allegations of cheating.

"I'm gonna bark like a dog and expose him to the nation! If we're both clean, let's just take the test! If he's not taking anything, why get upset? I believe that people who don't want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide."

"If Barack Obama was willing to show his birth certificate, why doesn't Bernard Hopkins have to take the test?"

Good grief, enough already!

When I hear about steroids, drug testing, PEDs, and "cheating" in the sport of boxing, I tune out quick. It doesn't interest me in the least, I think it's 99% BS, and frankly, I just don't care. Like everybody else, I've heard Pascal say ad nauseum that he is willing to "take the test" - fine, go take the damn test - but what about these persistent allegations of cheating? Is your opponent loading his gloves Jean? Removing the padding from them? Drinking from a special bottle, you know, the one I mixed? Did he bite you? That's how I understand cheating. Apparently things have changed and boxing has become something like baseball, where the asterisk * symbolizes a tainted sport. Fortunately, boxing is not quite there yet. When asked directly by Dan Rafael if he believes Hopkins is cheating, Pascal responded by (thankfully) saying, "no, I don't think Bernard is cheating."

Great! So glad we could clear that up because as an old school follower of boxing, I look for more traditional angles of attack when it comes to a fighter taking an advantage over another fighter - things like ring size for instance, glove type, weight qualifications, 15 rounds or 12 - things like that, or even something like "hometown" advantage, which by the way is an advantage that Pascal has taken into the ring with him in 26 out of 28 fights, fighting almost exclusively in Canada. Pascal has fought in the United States one only time, beating Omar Pittman in Florida by decision on ESPN in 2008. Later that year, he ventured to the UK where he was beaten by the British Carl Froch in a bid for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title.

The current Light Heavyweight Champion of the World has not ventured out of O Canada since.

Knockout Digest asked Jean Pascal about fighting outside of Canada now that he is a WORLD Champion.   

"I have no problems fighting outside of Canada. I'm going to go where  the fans want me to go. I fought in England in 2008 - I wasn't scared to go overseas, because I'm a warrior, a soldier, and I always want to give the best show possible. For this rematch, I was willing to go to the United States to beat up Bernard Hopkins but he has no fans in America. That is why he chose to go back to Canada to make more money because he knows that in Canada we have great fights and great fans. He's is going to make more money in Canada than he's going to make in America because he has no fanbase!"

Pascal's Promoter Yvon Michel then chimed in, "This fight being in Canada is the best business possible and if it would have been the best business possible to fight in the United States, he would have fought in the United States. What I find funny is we never ask the American champions if they would be willing to defend their titles outside of the United States to see if they are real world champions."

The "best business" possible is to give yourself the best possible advantage to win the fight and that is exactly what Champion Jean Pascal does when he is able to defend his title time after time in front of his hometown crowd. A short ride home after the fight isn't the only advantage associated with fighting in your hometown or home country. Loud, potentially judge influencing cheers, from your fans every time you throw a punch, a hostile environment for your opponent; those are advantages, and with that volatile dynamic often comes the "hometown" decision in favor of the local fighter. Fighting at home if possible is an advantage as old as the sport itself but with Pascal it's getting ridiculous and it's time for him to truly earn the status of WORLD Champion by fighting and defending his title in other parts of the world, particularly if he insists on alleging that his opponent is taking some unfair advantage. Bernard Hopkins did not make 20 successful defenses of the Middleweight Championship in Philadelphia, although I'm sure he would have liked to. That is by means to suggest that Jean Pascal has benefited from any hometown scoring, or any advantage beyond having loud loyal fans that boo his opponent like Jack the Ripper and raise the roof when their hometown guy makes his way to the ring. Just as Pascal willingly takes advantage of the benefit of the doubt afforded to him by fighting at home, he should extend that benefit of the doubt to Bernard Hopkins and drop all this cheating nonsense. 

"When you fight Bernard Hopkins, it's always complicated."

Thankfully, on May 21st, the talk stops, and the punching starts.

"He doesn't like me. I don't like him so we can take care of that in the ring, where we can hit eachother legally."

Hopkins wants to execute Dawson, Bute, then Super 6 Winner!

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins currently has his sights set on eclipsing George Foreman's record for oldest boxer to ever win a legitimate world title.

If he beats Jean Pascal on May 21st, the record and the title is his. What next? Archie Moore apparently. Well, not literally.

Bernard Hopkins is looking for three more fights after his rematch on May 21st with Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal. On a conference call to promote the upcoming fight against Pascal, Hopkins stated that he has at least three more fights left on his contract with HBO and he wants them to be big fights against top quality opposition. It's rare these days when a fighter is willing to call out his next opponent, let alone his next three but that is more or less what The Executioner did in announcing that he wants to fight Chad Dawson (assuming Dawson gets by Adrian Diaconu), Lucian Bute, and then the winner of the Super 6 tournament.

Talk about having your work cut out for you. Hopkins not only plans to regain the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World from Champion Jean Pascal, he has ambitious plans for defending that title.

"I can give you the names of the fighters I am preparing to execute. If Chad Dawson beats Adrian Diaconu, then that fight would be in that fall. Then I would love to go back to Canada and fight Lucian Bute, and then maybe the winner of the Super 6 tournament."

Many people expect Andre Ward to emerge as the Super 6 winner. Hopkins vs Ward as B-Hop's swan song?

"To me, that would really be representing Archie Moore in a big way."

Yes indeed it would.

Archie Moore of course, reigned as Light Heavyweight Champion well into middle age, in fact he was at least 45 years old when he made his last successful defense of the light heavyweight title. Moore's true age is a matter of debate, but needless to say he was an early pioneer when it came to defending a world boxing title successfully into his 40's. George Foreman picked up where Archie Moore left off winning the heavyweight title at 45 and successfully defending it for the last time at 47.



Today, Bernard Hopkins seems to have his sights set on being not only the oldest to win a world title, but also the oldest to successfully defend it.

Weekend Review: Pacquiao Dominates Mosley

In a "fight" that was really no fight at all, pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao (now 53-3-2 w/ 38 KO's) pounded on the mortal remains of Shane Mosley (now 46-7-1 w/ 39 KO's) for twelve rounds on Saturday night, securing a very predictable unanimous decision victory, and retaining his WBO welterweight belt in the process.

Mosley was never in the fight and for all intents and purposes, he lost every minute of every round - even the one in which he was credited with a "knockdown" of  Pacquiao in the tenth. Apparently two of the judges refused to accept the knockdown as legitimate (which it wasn't) and scored the round accordingly, taking no point(s) away from Pacquiao for the "knockdown." Kudos to those two judges for not penalizing Pacquiao for a mistake made by the officials at ringside and then exacerbated by referee Kenny Bayless who, instead of ruling a knockdown, should have ruled it a slip.

Pacquiao, who on this night was not exactly the force of nature we had come to expect, did manage to seriously hurt Sugar Shane in the third, scoring a conclusive knockdown that Shane later admitted hurt him very badly and essentially ruined his appetite for fighting. From that point on, it looked like Shane Mosley was just doing his best to go the distance and not completely embarrass himself.

Official scores were: 119-108, 120-108, and 120-107.

KO Digest scored the fight 120-107, ignoring the "official" knockdown in the tenth and scoring that round  10-9 for Manny.

~Jorge Arce KO12 Wilfredo Vazquez Jr
(Wins WBO Super Bantamweight title)

This highly entertaining fight more or less saved the whole Pacquiao-Mosley pay per view card from being a completely boring wash. Jorge Arce (now 57-6-2 w/ 44 KO's) came on strong in the eleventh and then again in the twelfth round to score a dramatic TKO victory over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr (now 20-1-1 w/ 17 KO's), when Vazquez Sr. threw in the towel to save his son from any more punishment. It was a debatable call, and Vazquez Jr was naturally disappointed with his father's decision after the fight.

At the time of the stoppage, Vazquez appeared to have survived the Arce onslaught and was in a comfortable clinch, with Arce perhaps punched out, when the towel came in. Either way, Arce would have won the decision (assuming the judges would have given him the 12th round) so at that point it really just comes down to a father protecting his son, and who can argue with that?

Official scores at the time of the stoppage were: 104-104, 104-104, and 107-102 in favor of Arce.

~Kelly Pavlik W10 Alfonso Lopez
(Super Middleweights)

Going into this comeback fight, Kelly Pavlik seemed to understand the importance of not just winning it, but looking good. He got the win, but he didn't look so good. What happened? Either Kelly Pavlik picked a legitimately tough-to-beat opponent for his comeback fight, or he's just not the top level fighter he was before rehab. I am inclined to go with a little of the former but more of  the latter.



The ring rusty Pavlik (now 37-2 w/ 32 KO's) won a majority decision victory over Lopez (21-1 w/ 16 KO's) but he was not terribly impressive, and it was not the type of performance that would generate fan interest in seeing Pavlik take on the elite fighters at super middleweight. A win is a still a win though and Pavlik will probably get another chance to win back the fans.

Official scores were: 95-95, 98-92, and 99-91.

~Evander Holyfield KO10 Brian Nielson
(Heavyweights)

Holyfield (now 44-10-2 w/ 29 KO's) drops Nielson (now 64-3 w/ 43 KO's) in the third and stops him in the tenth with a volley of punches. Holyfield looked a little fresher than he had in recent performances but that probably had more to do with his opponent than anything else. This was the out-of-shape Nielson's first fight in nine years.


~Daniel Geale W12 Sebastian Sylvester
(Wins IBF Middleweight title)

The Australian Daniel Geale (now 25-1 w/ 15 KO's) wins a middlweight belt by split decision over Sebastian Sylvester (now 34-4-1 w/ 16 KO's) in Germany. Sylvester was attempting to make the fourth successful defense of his IBF belt. Amazing how differently judges can see a fight.

Official scores were 118-110 and 118-112 for Geale, and 118-110 for Sylvester.

Prediction: Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley

It's been the Year of the Upset.

After starting off the new year writing about the demise of the big boxing upset, wondering, "Whatever Happened to the Upset?" - the sport of boxing has answered me with a year full of against the odds surprises such as: Hyped prospect James Kirkland KO'd by the unknown Nobuhiro Ishida. Power punching middlweight contender David Lemieux stopped by Marco Antonio Rubio. Alleged "quitter" Victor Ortiz becoming a vicious tiger before our eyes and defeating the favored Andre Berto, and biggest of all so far; top pound for pound featherweight sensation Juan Manuel Lopez KO'd at home in Puerto Rico by the unheralded Orlando Salido.

This weekend in Las Vegas, 39 year old Shane Mosley takes his shot at the biggest upset of all, facing current pound for pound king, and all time great Manny Pacquiao in a fight that many panned as a regrettable, undesirable, mismatch the moment it was made. That negative reaction struck me as odd at the time, considering what a warrior Shane Mosley has been all throughout his career. Surely Mosley would at least be competitive with Pacquiao I figured. Hell, he might even beat him, especially if you buy into the logic that an aging great fighter is sometimes capable of that one last great performance when nobody expects it. That's certainly what we saw last month when Eric Morales gave the boxing world a thrill and came within a few points of defeating the highly favored Marcos Maidana.

So will the upset trend continue with Mosley beating Pacquiao on May 7th?

No, I don't think so.

A few months ago, I thought maybe an upset was possible, or at the very least a competitive fight but everything I have seen and heard so far since that time leads me to believe that Shane might look OK for two or three rounds but after that he's gonna start taking a beating from Pacquiao, and at that point the fight will effectively be over with Shane reduced to just going through the motions, ineffectively stalking, looking for one punch while Pacquiao will consistently hit Mosley with every punch in his formidable arsenal. All that remains to be seen is if that beating will be enough to stop Shane inside the distance.

Defeating Shane Mosley is expected from Manny Pacquiao, stopping him would be the true feather in his cap. 

Can he do it? Will Pacquiao earn that feather and become the first man to stop Mosley? The feeling here is that he will not. Shane has a ton of heart and a damn good chin but considering Pac's propensity for showing mercy to opponents, Shane is likely to hear the final bell. What he is also likely to hear is that he just lost a very wide, unanimous decision to Pacquiao in a pretty dull fight that failed to live up to the hype.

It won't even be remotely close, and Pacquiao will make beating Mosley look even easier than Mayweather made it look because at no point will Shane be able to hurt Pacquiao like he hurt Mayweather last year in the second round. Shane wins no more than two rounds, takes a full body beating from Pacquiao and wisely hints at retirement after the fight.

Prediction: Manny Pacquiao W12 Shane Mosley