By Manuel Perez: Light welterweight Terrance Cauthen (33-4, 9 KOs) defeated formerly unbeaten Alexis Camacho (16-1, 15 KOs) in a eight-round unanimous decision on Wednesday night at the Municipal Auditorium, in San Antonio, Texas. Cauthen, 32, a former Bronze Medalist in the 1996 Olympics, easily dominated his slower, limited opponent Camacho, befuddling him with constant movement, jabs and slick moves during most of the fight. Read more…

By Manuel Perez: In a fight that probably should have been stopped two rounds earlier, welterweight prospect Delvin Rodriguez (23-2-1, 14 KOs) stopped Oscar Diaz (26-3, 12 KOs) in the 11th round, when Diaz suddenly became unresponsive in between the 10th and 11th rounds, then stood up, staggered and collapsed on Wednesday night at the Municipal Auditorium, in San Antonio, Texas. Immediately, a medical team was rushed into the ring and oxygen was given to Diaz. Shortly thereafter, Diaz was taken out of the ring on a stretcher. Reportedly, he was taken to a hospital where surgery was performed to reduce swelling from a subdural hematoma, according to USA Today. At the present time, Diaz is said to still be in critical condition, in a medically induced coma.

Aside from the 4th round in which Diaz hurt Rodriguez with a big right hand, the fight was one-sided with Rodriguez dominating it with his powerful shots to the head. Diaz began to experience bad swelling under his right eye in the 7th and by the 9th round, his eye began swelling completely shut. Read more…

By Thomas Hanson: After last night’s bout between James Toney (71-6, 44 KOs) and Hasim Rahman (45-7-2, 36 KOs), which ended up with Toney winning on a controversial 3rd round TKO after Rahman was cut over his left eye, Toney called IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko a “bum and your sister Vitali.” It seems as if Toney would like nothing better than to take on Wladimir in a title fight. In a recent interview, Toney said that he’d like to fight Wladimir for the title. If Wladimir were to be interested in such a bout, this would set up an intriguing David vs. Goliath type of a match up with the 6′7″ Wladimir facing the smallish 5′9″ Toney, who would be giving up 10 inches in height and 9 inches in reach to Wladimir.

While most people would immediately rule this out as being a fight where Toney would be simply too small to effectively fight Wladimir, I beg to disagree. As light night’s fight proved, Toney has the ability get in close to fighters with a super long reach, close enough to land his shorter, almost as powerful right hand shots. Read more…

By Dan Ambrose: In an interview with Setanta Sports, heavyweight Danny Williams was very complimentary of British heavyweight David Haye, going so far as to say that he has tremendous speed and power. He has absolutely everything. He could beat any heavyweight without a warm-up.” At the same time, Williams also wasn’t impressed with challenger Tony Thompson’s performance against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, calling it “absolutely sickening” and “disgusting.” Apparently, Williams felt that Thompson didn’t give it his all in the fight, and held back rather than trying to take the fight to Klitschko. Read more…

By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, up and coming heavyweight David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) isn’t too impressed with IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, calling him “predictable” and “boring,” someone that he could quickly figure out if he were to fight him. He laid waste to Wladimir, as well as the other top heavyweights in the division, in a recent interview with Setanta Sports, saying of Klitschko, “I wasn’t impressed with what he did. If Wladimir Klitschko was 6”2 and 220lbs I don’t think we’d be talking about him right now…His boxing ability after 50 fights doesn’t impress me. I can see what he’s going to do.”

Haye, 27, has been particularly eager at landing a fight with Klitschko, and doesn’t appear to be out off the least bit by Wladimir’s objections to a fight with him. Haye has said that he’ll fight a top guy, so as to prove himself as a top heavyweight in the division, but after that he intends on fighting Wladimir for his titles. Wladimir has one more mandatory coming up against Alexander Povetkin in 2008, but after that, if Wladimir is successful in his defense, there shouldn’t be anything holding him back from defending his titles against Haye. Read more…

By William MacKay: Although the outcome was less than satisfying for most people, including 39 year-old heavyweight James Toney (71-6, 44 KOs), he wasn’t about to walk away from his 3rd round TKO win last night over two-time heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (45-7-2, 36 KOs) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, in Temecula, California. The fight ended in less than desirable circumstances, however, with Rahman clashing head with Toney early in the 3rd round, causing a small cut over the left eye of Rahman. The seemed to really bother Rahman, who kept pawing at the cut for the remainder of the round.

Up to this point, Toney had been trailing in the fight, but with Rahman now almost totally focused on his small cut, Toney began to tee-off on him with right hands to the head, hitting him often until the end of the round. Rahman fired back with his own shots but he was wildly throwing them, and missing badly more often than not. Read more…

By Matt McGrain: In Toledo, Jack Dempsey was King. Leaving his corner and circling to his left, on his toes, his chin tucked in, leading with his left foot, just out of punching range, right hand high and slightly extended, left hand low - a loaded gun, we now know - Dempsey looks loose, showing near perfect form. He slips a couple of clumsy jabs and declines to contest the first clinch of the fight, stepping back, not really exerting himself until it is time to separate himself from his towering opponent, Jess Willard, who outweighs him by some 55lbs.

After the clinch, Dempsey bounces once to each side, just out of range, and appears to be looking Jess Willard in the eyes, not a habit for Dempsey because it was an amateurs habit, and Jack Dempsey was a professional. He circles right and takes a light, half-formed jab, then appears to over-feint, or shy away. Willard, the big dog in the fight, does what a big dog should do when faced with an elusive adversary who wants to snipe, waits, waits for his chance to bite in the hope that he will be able to take hold. Willard jabs again, twice more, reasonably authoritative punches, but something is different. Jack is still trying to slip and ride them, but is suddenly using his footwork to bounce straight back into the firing-range, back and down, then in on steel springs. In-fighting follows, Dempsey landing short hard punches to Willard’s midriff, the big man, who landed a decent one-two as Dempsey came in, punching only once and ineffectively. Read more…

By Chet Mills: After his 11th round TKO of Tony Thompson last Saturday night, there’s still question in the minds of more than a few boxing fans about whether IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KOs) is truly the best heavyweight in the division or not. As for me, I’m still as undecided as many of the fans and writers are about who really is the best. Certainly, it was a good win for Wladimir to defeat his number #1 challenger Thompson, but then again, he wasn’t a particularly dangerous challenger given his lack of power, aggression, youth or background.

When you look at how good Thompson was, it really wasn’t such a big deal Wladimir beating. I’d give handful of other heavyweights in the division just as good a chance at beating a feather-fisted fighter like Thompson as Wladimir did, which kind of takes away from the Ukrainian fighters accomplishment in my mind. Read more…

By Francisco Chantengo: Light welterweight Ricky Hatton (44-1, 31 KOs) has been considering a future bout with WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) for 2009, a fight which has attracted a lot of attention in the media. However, I wonder if it might be a better idea of Hatton, 29, to forget about a fight with Pacquiao, and focus more on just trying to defend his IBF light welterweight, if he should defeat champion Paulie Malignaggi in their November 22nd fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. There’s nothing with Hatton fighting Pacquiao, since it would probably be an appealing fight for most boxing fans, but I’m thinking more for Hatton’s own welfare. If had more speed, movement or overall boxing ability, I would be all for him taking on Pacquiao.

In fact, I’d be the first one pushing for him to take the bout with the Filipino boxing star. However, I’ve seen Pacquiao fight many times, and after watching him methodically dismantle former WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in a terribly one-sided 9th round beating last month in June, I give Hatton no chance of beating Pacquiao. In fact, not only will Hatton lose to Pacquiao, but he’ll also take a horrendous beating, one even worse and more humiliating than his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in December 2007. Read more…

By Manuel Perez: With the welterweight showdown between WBA champion Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs) and challenger Antonio Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs) only a week and half away, both the ticket sales and fans interest don’t appear to be there. The fight, which will be held at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada, seems to be a poor location for the bout, being away from the East Coast, the area where Cotto’s huge Puerto Rican fan base is located, and California, perhaps where Margarito’s biggest fans come from.

Even with the fight being held in either of those two locations, however, it would be a fight that would still lack interest among the more casual of boxing fans, for few of them have ever heard of either of these two fighters. Though both of them have been around for a little while, for whatever reason neither of them are all that well known outside of the main boxing circles. If you doubt what I say, I suggest you speak to several people at your work or at school, and ask them if they’ve ever heard of Cotto or Margarito. I’d be willing to bet 9 times out of 10, few people have heard of either. Now, if you were to ask the same people if they’d ever heard of Oscar De La Hoya or Floyd Mayweather, most of them would probably say they had, especially with De La Hoya, a crossover star. Read more…

By Nate Anderson: Undefeated light heavyweight Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) is reportedly going to continue his boxing career after his September 20th fight with Roy Jones Jr. in Madison Square Garden, New York City, and he plans to move back down to the super middleweight division where he intends on defending his WBO title. Calzaghe, 36, has reportedly sent a fax to the President of the WBO, letting him know his intentions of defending the WBO title after he fights Jones in September.

Needless to say, this is quite extraordinary news for most boxing fans, many of who have previously thought that Calzaghe would be retiring immediately after he fights Jones. In interviews, Calzaghe has been saying that the Jones fight would be his last, and that he didn’t wish to continue fighting because he had nothing to prove. Previous to that, Calzaghe had been hinting at fighting undefeated middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, who was also quite interested in a fight with Calzaghe. It’s uncertain now, however, whether Calzaghe would be merely interested in defending his WBO title against one of the top three contenders - Mikkel Kessler, Jean Pascal and Carl Froch - or seeking out a bout with Pavlik. Read more…

Photo credit: Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions - By Jim Dower: Tonight, heavyweights Hasim Rahman (45-6-3, 36 KOs) and James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) fight for the little known WBO NABO heavyweight title at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. The title is not important, in this case, but what is important is that one of them moves on with his boxing career, while the other finds himself in a bad situation with retirement perhaps the best option.

Both fighters are well up there in age, with Toney, 39, leading the way and the soon to be 36 year-old Rahman not far behind. Both fighters seem to have been forgotten by the general boxing public, rarely mentioned on boxing websites, or discussed in television broadcasts when the subject of top heavyweights is brought up. Rahman has twice won and lost heavyweight titles, most recently losing his title in a sensational 12th round knockout to Oleg Maskaev in August 2006. As for Toney, he blew his only shot at a title after beating John Ruiz in April 2005, he later failed a post-fight drug test, causing the fight to be ruled a no-contest. Read more…

By Dan Ambrose: Undefeated super featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa (10-0, 8 KOs) will be facing Al Seeger (27-3, 21 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Buffalo Bill’s Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada on Friday night. Gamboa, 26, a former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist from Cuba, was originally scheduled to face WBA number #2 ranked super featherweight Jose Rojas, but he pulled out suddenly, making the need to find a last minute replacement for the fight. Seeger, 28, a super bantamweight was found to replace Gamboa. Seeger has lost his last two bouts, being defeated by Daniel Ponce de Leon and Mike Oliver, so one could conclude that this fight may be over very early with Gamboa quickly destroying Seeger in a round or two.

Gamboa, 26, ranked #3 in the WBA and WBC, is coming off a disappointing performance in his last bout in May against Darling Jimenez, in which Gamboa was knocked down in the 4th round of the bout, but eventually won the fight by a 10-round unanimous decision. Gamboa, a fighter that is known for his quick knockouts and heavy pressure, showed signs of wearing down as early as the 5th round against Jimenez. As he usually does, Gamboa bum rushed Jimenez early in the fight, throwing a down pour of punches in hopes of scoring another quick knockout, but Jimenez, a tough fighter with a good chin, had little problem handling Gamboa’s shots, and then began landing even bigger shots of his own. In the 4th round, an already tired-looking Gamboa was knocked down by a big right hand from Jimenez. Read more…

By Michael Lieberman: Since everyone has been busy discussing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s poor performance on Saturday against Matt Vanda, I thought this was the best time to examine the boxing career of Chavez Jr’s father, Julio Cesar Chavez (107-6-2, 86 KOs). I don’t really see the greatness there, to tell you the truth. Sure, he’s got a lot of wins on his record, but the vast majority of the wins have come over soft opposition.

I see some good fighters in the group of wins over good fighters like Hector “Macho” Camacho, Greg Haugen, Meldrick Taylor, Roger Mayweather and Edwin Rosario, but there’s no truly excellent fighters of Chavez Sr’s wins in his career. Perhaps his best win of his career was over Taylor, but that win was made much less impressive considering that he was losing the fight at the time it was stopped with two seconds to go in the 12th round. Read more…

By Matt McGrain: I’ve always felt it ironic that the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States of America, is so thoroughly and helplessly defined by his times. The Nixon administration certainly didn’t create the conditions surrounding the most paranoid period in America’s recent history, but nothing surmises the paranoia and self-hatred surrounding the Vietnam era better than that most mired of Presidents. But even the great Presidents are defined by the time in which they Govern - Kennedy the visionary at a time of great change, Roosevelt, probably the greatest President in United States history, was afforded the chance to become so during the extraordinary circumstances of the 1930’s. Of course, greatness is not a matter of circumstance alone and each of these men did extraordinary work, but it is fair to say that Roosevelt would not have been a four-term President had he been elected to position in the 1970’s.

I also feel that ex-Presidents are generally more interesting than Presidents. There are exceptions, most notably the President who came to be owned most thoroughly by the public due to the circumstances of his personal life, Bill Clinton, but in general I feel more able to properly appraise an ex-President once he has been free from the shackles of office for a number of years. Read more…

By Jason Kim: Aging heavyweights James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) and Hasim Rahman (45-6-3, 36 KOs) battle it out on Wednesday night in a scheduled 12-round bout for the vacant WBO NABO heavyweight title at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula. Both fighters are nearing the end of their boxing careers, with Toney, 39, at the edge having lost two out of his last four fights with one of them being a draw to Rahman and the other a split decision victory over Danny Batchelder in his last fight.

It’s been over a year since Toney last fought, and during that time he’s slipped from the top 15. He looked weak and weight drained in his last fight with Batchelder in May 2007. After the bout, Toney tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended for a year, although it was later reduced to six months. The time off probably won’t have helped Toney, who was having problems dealing with the better heavyweights like Peter and Rahman. In both cases, Toney seemed too small to compete with either of them and his lack of size prevented him from being able to take the fight to them. Of course, him being out of shape didn’t help either. Toney looked to be 25-40 lbs overweight in both fights and the fat appeared to slow him down considerably over the course of the bouts. Read more…

By Manuel Perez: Still unbeaten, but with an image that is badly tarnished, light middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (37-0-1, 29 KOs) has some big decisions to make about his boxing career in the aftermath of his disappointing 10-round split decision victory over C-class fighter Matt Vanda on Saturday night at the Palenque De La Expo, Hermosillo, in Sonora, Mexico. Chavez Jr., 22, took major punishment in the bout, and was out on his feet in the 12th round after taking a series of big shots from Vanda. Strangely enough, the round appeared to end 6 seconds early as Chavez Jr. was backing up on weak legs and taking punishment from Vanda.

Although I personally felt that Chavez had won the fight, I saw it as being very close, and certainly not by the ridiculous scores of 100-90, a score which one of the judges ruled in Chavez Jr’s favor. Despite getting the win, however, Chavez Jr. needs to do some soul searching and decide whether boxing is the right career for him. After the fight just described, Chavez Jr. has to ask himself whether he wants to continue on with his career and face better fighters than Vanda, which at this point is almost a given due to his high #5 ranking in the WBC, or retire from the sport with his unbeaten record intact. Read more…

On July 16th, 2008, the boxing world will have the rematch of a lifetime - literally. The long-awaited “Last Chance” for Hasim “Rock” Rahman (45-6-3, 36 KOs) to be considered a heavyweight contender as he once again faces the living legend James “Lights Out” Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, CA.. Read more…

By Thomas Hanson: Moments after IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s (51-3, 45 KOs) 11th round TKO victory over challenger Tony Thompson (31-2, 19 KOs) last Saturday night in Hamburg, Germany, heavyweight hopeful David Haye told Setanta Sports that he wasn’t at all impressed with Wladimir’s victory, saying “All he does is hold and paw with his jab…every time he’s gotten in there with someone fast, someone with heart, he [Wladimir] has been knocked out. I’m that guy.”

Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) went on to say that he’s disparate to fight Wladimir first, “before someone else knocks him out before me.” Haye was very critical of how Wladimir fought against Thompson, commenting that “if he fought me the same way he fought Thompson, he’d have gotten knocked out in three rounds.” Read more…

By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) has reportedly signed on to fight current WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (30-1, 23 KOs) on October 11th, likely to be at the Os World Arena, in Berlin, Germany. Although Vitali has signed on for the fight, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will make it to the fight given his recent history of canceling bouts due to various injuries of one kind or another. At this date, Vitali has canceled his last four bouts due to injuries to his knee and back.

However, Samuel Peter, 27, is very eager to fight Vitali, wanting to get revenge for an earlier loss three years ago to Vitali’s brother Wladimir, who defeated Peter by a 12-round unanimous decision in 2005. Peter recently said that Vitali will have to take his punishment “like a man,” which seems to indicate that Peter isn’t particularly impressed with Vitali’s courage at this point. If Peter is successfully in defeating Vitali, which considering Vitali’s four years in inactivity is a high likelihood, then Peter wants to take on Vitali’s brother Wladimir immediately after that, a fight which would set up another “Revenge of the brother” type scenarios. Read more…