Atlas: Guerrero didn’t have a plan against Mayweather

guerrero45By Dan Ambrose: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas was disappointed from what he saw from Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KO’s) in his failed attempt to defeat WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Atlas expected Guerrero to have some kind of logical plan to try and win the fight, but instead Guerrero stood on the outside and took pot shots for most of the fight. When did plod forward, he’s eat big right hand shots and get tied up after missing two or three shots.

Guerrero looked totally clueless and also scared. I expected Guerrero to look confused, because he had never fought anyone even close to the skill level of Mayweather before during his career. However, what I wasn’t expecting was for Guerrero to look as timid as a lamb out there against Mayweather, especially after all that bold talk that Guerrero had done about him not being intimidated by Mayweather.

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Not impressed with Ring’s pound for pound list

wladimir3by Bob Smith: Though Ring magazine is a respectable if not venerable boxing publication, there are two ways in which its pound for pound list can inaccurately report the best boxers – one is by being susceptible to the favorites of boxing promoters and hype; the other is by overemphasizing recent wins, especially by knockout.

For instance, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko jumped from #9 to #4 just because he defeated a badly overmatched challenger in Francesco Pianeta. Also, WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner is still untested yet is ranked ahead of Sergio Martinez on the list. I will present my own list here to correct for these errors.

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Atlas sees Canelo fighting Cotto next, not Mayweather

canelo 03 (2)By Dan Ambrose: ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas says he’s hearing that Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) will be the one that ends up facing WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) rather than Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) for Canelo’s next fight on September 14th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Atlas said to ESPN: “My sources tell me it will be Miguel Cotto [who faces Canelo next]. Floyd Mayweather is not looking to fight. Yes, it would be a huge money fight [Mayweather vs. Canelo], but Mayweather can make money in a lot of different places. Why take a risk with a much bigger guy like Alvarez. So what I understand, Alvarez-Cotto is a much better bet than waiting to see Alvarez-Mayweather.”

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Weights: Darchinyan 123.5, Gallo 123.25

darch1By Allan Fox: 37-year-old former two division world champion Vic Darchinyan (38-5-1, 27 KO’s) successfully weighed in on Friday for his fight tomorrow night against Javier Gallo (18-6-1, 10 KO’s) for their fight at the Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo, Texas.

Darchinyan, #3 WBC, came in at 123.5 pounds, and his opponent 29-year-old Gallo weighed in at 123.25 lbs. This will be the first fight for Darchinyan with Top Rank Promotions and there’s talk of him possibly facing newly crowned WBC super bantamweight champion Victor Terrazaz next, although former IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire might be the one that ultimately gets the shot against Terrazaz.

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Mayweather-Guerrero rakes in $9.9 million gate

floyd#30By Chris Williams: Last Saturday night’s fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero may not equal Mayweather’s previous fight against Miguel Cotto in terms of pay per view buys, but in one area where it did quite well was at the gate.

The fight hauled in a gate of $9,922, 350 from 14,258 tickets with 1,459 tickets comped. That’s good loot for this fight, especially given that Mayweather was fighting a complete unknown in the minds of many boxing fans in choosing to fight Guerrero instead of a better known fighter. Guerrero didn’t help the PPV card any by getting arrested last April at the New York airport.

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Weights: Ceja 117, McDonnell 117

Jamie McDonnell  Julio Ceya  Press conference Keepmoat stadiumBy Scott Gilfoid: Earlier today, bantamweight contender Jaime McDonnell (20-2-1, 9 KO’s) made weight for his fight against the devastating puncher Julio Ceja (24-0, 22 KO’s) for their fight on Saturday for the vacant IBF bantamweight title that previously belonged to Leo Santa Cruz before he vacated it to move up to 122.

The Ceja-McDonnell fight will be taking place in the UK at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster.

Ceja weighed in at 117 lbs, while McDonnell also came in at 117 as well.

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Froch beats Kessler, says Roach

froch65By Scott Gilfoid: Freddie Roach believes that IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) will beat WBA super middleweight Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) when the two fighters meet up for their pay per view rematch on May 25th in London, UK. Roach thinks Froch, 35, is too young for the 34-year-old.

Roach said to RingTV “I think Froch is too young and too much for him at this point. I think Froch wins by a decision.”

I hate to be the one to break this to Roach, but Kessler is actually the younger fighter and he looks a lot younger than Froch as well. I mean, I don’t knock Roach for being ignorant about the ages of the fighters. After all, he’s not a writer and it’s not his job to keep up with those kinds of things. That’s my job. I keep track of ages and junk like that.

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If Burns beats Gonzalez, he’ll face Miguel Vazquez next

burns42(Photos courtesy PR Best Boxing Promotions/Joel Colon) By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn wants to match his fighter WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) against IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13 KO’s) in a unification bout next if Burns gets past his #1 challenger Jose Gonzalez (22-0, 17 KO’s) this Saturday night at the Emirates Arena, in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.

That’s a big if because Gonzalez is a huge, huge puncher of the first order and Burns is there to be hit all night long. Burns seems to see himself as a puncher lately and I’m wondering if his 4th round knockout win over Kevin Mitchell last September may have planted some ideas in his head about his power.

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Roach: If Pacquiao doesn’t look good against Rios then it’s all over

pac65656By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach sees Manny Pacquiao’s fight against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) on November 24th as being potentially Pacquiao’s last fight of his career if he fails to perform well in their HBO pay per view fight at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Pacquiao is coming off of not just one but two disappointing losses back to back, and he looks like a poor copy of the fighter that he once was years ago. The age and ring-wear is starting to shock it’s ugly effects on the 34-year-old Filipino now and Roach can’t just explain it away as Pacquiao not being motivated. The way he’s looked goes beyond motivation and more towards aging and too many hard fights.

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Espinosa optimistic Mayweather-Canelo will take place on September 14th

floyd62By Dan Ambrose: Showtime head of Sports Stephen Espinosa is optimistic that a mega pay per fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez can get made for September 14th on Showtime/CBS on the Mexican Independence Day holiday. Both Mayweather and Canelo are interested in the fight, so all that needs to take place in the negotiations for money, weight.

Espinosa said to ESPN’s Dan Rafael “I’m cautiously optimistic. There’s a lot of negotiating left to do, but often the biggest hurdle is convincing one fighter or the other to take the fight. That hurdle has been cleared. I truly believe Mayweather wants Canelo and that Canelo wants Mayweather, and that’s half the battle.”

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