Irish middleweight prospect Andy Lee (14-0, 11 KOs) caused his opponent Jason McKay (18-2, 5 KOs) to quit after the sixth round tonight at the National Stadium, in Dublin, Ireland. Though the fight was considered to be the toughest bout of the 23 year-old Lee’s career, the fight in fact was one of Lee’s easiest, mostly because of his anger at McKay for some comments he had made about Lee during the pre-fight banter.

Instead of firing back with reciprocal backtalk, Lee let his fists do the talking for him, as he systematically destroyed his Irish opponent tonight. From the opening bell, it was apparent that McKay wasn’t in the same class as Lee, as he wasn’t fast enough or powerful enough to match Lee’s offensive arsenal. Lee unleashed several hard right hands in the 2nd round, one of which dropped McKay to the canvas, hurt. Read more

Well, it appears that junior middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s bout with Contender star Alfonso Gomez is out the window, based on a report by Dan Rafael of ESPN, who said that Chavez’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, has had second thoughts about Chavez facing Gomez, apparently after seeing that Chavez, the son of boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez, is a huge draw and has decided that he should fight on pay per view instead. Even though Chavez Jr. isn’t a champion in any of the major divisions, Arum figures that he can make a lot of money because of the fact that Chavez Jr’s recent bout with Ray Sanchez sold a high number of subscriptions with little in the way of advertising for the bout. Read more

World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KOs) will be defending his title on February 16th against unbeaten challenger Mike Alvarado (19-0, 13 KOs) at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevado. Torres, 27, recently was involved in a questionable 11th round TKO of challenger Kendall Holt on September 1st, a bout in which the referee Genero Rodriguez stopped the bout shortly after Holt was dropped to the canvas. However, Holt was still punching at the time and appeared to be okay.

Afterwards, Holt appealed the stoppage with the WBO, but the ruling failed to reverse the victory for Torres. Holt, naturally, asked for a rematch and it seemed like the logical thing to do for Torres would be to give him a rematch, so that he could wipe out any doubt in anyone’s mind about the stoppage. However, instead of deciding to fight Holt again, Torres has decided on Alvarado, apparently one of Top Rank’s young stars. Another young and rising star in the junior welterweight division, Victor Ortiz, was mentioned but Torres decided on the less dangerous Alvarado instead. Read more

According to a report from Dan Rafael of ESPN, undefeated World Boxing Council welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs) recommends that Ricky Hatton not fight again, stating “I hope Ricky Hatton is able get to through this one. This is tough on him and his family. I know he’s been through a lot of wars. I don’t think he should fight again. A fight of this magnitude can really tear you down mentally and physically. The wars, like his fight with Kostya Tszyu and me, eventually catch up to you like they did with Fernando Vargas and Erik Morales.” Read more

In a recent press conference, WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik said that he’s looking forward to his rematch with former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in a PPV fight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, on February 16th. Last time out, Pavlik destroyed Taylor, stopping him in the 7th round of their bout in September. This time, the fight will be held at 166 lbs, at Taylor’s request. The added weight likely won’t make much of a difference in the ultimately outcome as both fighters technically way the same weight while not in training, so it will pretty much a non factor. “You know what’s going to happen next fight.

I”m going to be in there throwing a lot of punches and trying to make Jermain fight,” Pavlik said. Making it no secret, just like last time, Pavlik is promising to come directly at Taylor and force him to exchange punches with him. It’s a strategy that served Pavlik well, as his handspeed and boxing ability aren’t on par with Tayor, and if he were to stay on the outside, Taylor would likely out-box him and earn a 12-round decision. Taylor made it easy for Pavlik last time out because he didn’t even try to box him, as if he were attempting to beat Pavlik at his own game. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, as it turned out. Read more

Perhaps still smarting from his 10th round TKO to Floyd Mayweather on Saturday at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Ricky Hatton recently expressed interest in fighting a rematch with Mayweather, or possibly fighting Oscar De La Hoya. Both fights would seem remote at this point given the way Hatton performed against Mayweather. Who knows? Maybe Mayweather would be interested in facing Hatton again, especially if it means another huge payday for him, but the public would obviously need more convincing, likely seeing the fight at another blow out for Mayweather. Read more

In the boxing news, both World Boxing Council interim champion Samuel Peter and World Boxing Council champion Oleg Maskaev sent in their medical exams to the WBC in preparation for their February 2nd title match at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Vitali Klitschko, the WBC emeritus , also sent in his medical exams to the WBC, letting them know that he’s fit to compete against the winner of Maskaev-Peter. Both Klitschko and Maskaev are coming off of bank surgeries for herniated discs, which caused cancellations for each of them.

In Maskaev’s case, it bought him a little time from having to face the brawling 27 year-old Peter, who many figured to beat the aging 37 year-old Maskaev. The postponement, however, only prolonged the inevitable, though, as Maskaev still faces the tough obstacle of trying to defeat Peter, whom hasn’t lost since 2005 when he lost a narrow decision to Wladimir Klitschko. However, Peter isn’t without his faults, as was shown clearly in his last fight with journeyman Jameel McCline, a fighter who knocked Peter down three times early on and came close to beating him. Read more

Moments after Floyd Mayweather’s 10-round destruction of Ricky Hatton last Saturday night, Mayweather commented that he wouldn’t allow boxing to retire him, that he would retire from boxing. However, knowing that Mayweather is often making threats of retiring from boxing but never actually carrying them out, I thought it would be interesting to discuss who Mayweather will likely be facing in the near future. Though, quite frankly, he’s not in need of money after having made $50 million in 2007 alone with his huge mega fights victories over Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. Read more

Normally I wouldn’t advise a fighter as great as Ricky Hatton to retire this early on in his career, considering he’s only 29 years-old and would appear to have a lot of mileage left ahead of him, but in his case, I think it’s best that he hang up his gloves and call it a day. He’s clearly not the same fighter he was and doesn’t really need any more money at this stage of his career, having just earned a $7.2 million dollar payday for his 10th round TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the most part, Hatton appears to have all his faculties as he can carry on a decent conversation without the usual slurring of words that come from brawlers such as Hatton.

He’s done more than a fighter like him should have accomplished in his career, beating skilled fighters like Kostya Tszyu, albeit at the end of his career, and Jose Luis Castillo. All the great things that Hatton has accomplished are things that he can be proud of as he looks back at his once great boxing career, but if he decides to continue on with boxing, I don’t see a lot of positive things happening for him from this point on. Of course, Hatton could prolong his career the way many European fighters do by mostly fighting easy fights against mainly European fighters, but somehow, I don’t see Hatton following this course. He’s the type that will want to take on the best fighters, no matter what country they come from. Read more

While I was watching Ricky Hatton get slowly dismantled by pound-4-pound boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night, I couldn’t help but notice that Hatton looked nothing like he had earlier in his career, when he was destroying his opponents with non stop punches. It wasn’t that Mayweather was simply outclassing Hatton, but rather he looked physically shot from the first round on, as he mounted mostly fruitless attacks against the quicker Mayweather. In Hatton’s recent bouts against Luis Collazo and even in some points during his bout with Jose Luis Castillo, Hatton appeared to be lethargic as he went about his business of trying to take him out. Read more

Now that Ricky Hatton has been flattened by Floyd Mayweather Jr., the prospect of a mega bout between the once-great Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton appears to be all but finished. The bout was always considered a long shot from the very beginning due to the odds against Hatton defeating Mayweather, but the one-sided nature of the fight, and the final finish - Hatton being brutally stopped in the 10th round - makes it nearly impossible to interest the boxing public.

It seems as if most boxing fans, even casual ones without much knowledge, would have a prerequisite that the fighter in the ring with De La Hoya should have a mystique of invincibility, even if it’s one build up on less than impressive fighters. Now, however, that’s been removed from the equation with Hatton’s humiliating loss to Mayweather. The fight was never remotely close from the very beginning, which will make it difficult to justify a bout with De La Hoya. It could still happen, but only if it receives a different kind of billing, something on the lines of “former champions go at it,” or something to that effect. Read more

According to ESPN, undefeated middleweight John Duddy (23-0, 17 KOs) may possibly be going up against World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs), if Pavlik has his wish granted. Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, said “We’re looking at defending against Duddy in June.” Before then, Pavlik has a rematch scheduled with former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in January, but most expect Pavlik to come out on top as he did in the first fight when he stopped Taylor in the 7th round. For his part, Duddy, 28, has a fight scheduled with Matt Vanda in February, but that’s a bout that Duddy will likely win easily. Read more

Former Mike Tyson conqueror Danny Williams failed in his shot at the International Boxing Federation Intercontinental heavyweight title on Saturday night when his bout with Russian Oleg Platov was stopped in the 4th round due to a accidental headbutt. At the point of the stoppage, however, Williams was punishing Platov and appeared to have him on the verge of a knockout. In the first round, Platov blitzed Williams with an all out assault, hitting him with a huge flurry of big shots and wobbling him as he was trapped up against the ropes.

However, Platov soon punched himself out near the midpoint of the round, allowing Williams to take his turn landing huge bombs. As the round ended, Platov was hurt from several big shots but escaped without going down. In the second round, both fighters took turns landing tremendous shots with both of them being stunned at points during the round. However, Platov had a huge cut opened up over his left eye, which the referee ruled was caused by a headbutt. Read more

International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Arthur Abraham stopped challenger Wayne Elcock (18-3, 8 KOs) in the 5th round of a scheduled 12-round bout Saturday night at the St. Jakob Halle, in Basel, Switzerland. Abraham dropped Elcock in the 2nd round and hurt him in the fifth, causing Elcock to fall into the ropes briefly. The referee, Wayne Kelly, gave Elcock a standing eight count, and moments after the action resumed, Abraham hit Elcock with a flurry of punches that had the British challenger literally out on his feet. The referee then moved in and halted the fight at 1:58 of the fifth round. Read more

Showing only brief glimpses of his former power, super middleweight Jeff Lacy (23-1, 17 KOs) struggled badly in the process of defeating reality TV start Peter Manfredo Jr. (28-5, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision on Saturday night. It was the first fight for Lacy in a year, after having major shoulder surgery to repair a tear of his left rotator cuff which occurred in his last bout against Vitali Tsypko. If there was any question as to whether Lacy still possessed his awesome left hook it was answered early in the first few rounds, when Lacy rarely used his left hand at all, much less his left hook. The final judges’ scores were 95-94, 96-93 and 97-92, all for Lacy.

When he did throw his left hook, it had very little power, looking nothing like it once did a year ago. Whether Lacy will ever regain the power in his left hook is questionable, as rotator cuff injuries often cause permanent weakness in the side of the injury. In the first three rounds of the bout, Manfredo used his speed and combinations to easily out-box the plodding Lacy, who was fighting mainly one-handed using his right almost exclusively. In the fourth round, Lacy surprised Manfredo with a huge right hand, dropping him to the canvas. Read more

Just as most fans thought it would be, boxing’s pound-4-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs) toyed with Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KOs) en route to eventually stopping him in the 10th round last night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the early rounds, Hatton, 29, fouled constantly with numerous rabbit punches, wrestling and constant holding and hitting, eventually causing Hatton to be docked a point by referee Joe Cortez. Read more

In a fight much tougher than he expected, super middleweight contender Jean Pascal (20-0, 14KOs) won a grueling 10-round unanimous decision over Brian Norman (15-6 4KOs) last night at Bell Centre in Montreal. Pascal, 25, seemed to be fighting a mirror image of himself, as Norman’s physique looked almost identical to Pascal. However, in terms of punching speed and power, Pascal was far superior, as he pounded out a hard-earned decision against Norman. In the first two rounds, pascal landed numerous shots, trying to take Norman out.

However, Norman proved to have an excellent chin, taking every shot Pascal could dish out and then repaying him with hard right hands. The fight ended up much closer than I expected, as Norman appeared to win four of the rounds, mostly due to his power right hand, which he landed often against Pascal. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-92 and 98-92. The fight was much closer than the score cards would indicate, though I’m not surprised because it was fought in Canada, Pascal’s home country. Read more

World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Joachim Alcine (30-0, 19KOs) TKO’d challenger Alfonso Mosquera (19-6, 7KOs) in the 12th round tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The fight was one-sided from the start as Alcine took to the fight to Mosquera, blasting him with hard combinations round after round. In the 11th round, Alcine staggered Mosquera with a big right hand and then followed up with a numerous shots before the round ended. Read more

Junior middleweight prospect Sergio Martinez (41-1-1, 22 KOs) stopped the overmatched Russell Jordan (14-5, 9 KOs) in the 4th round last night of a scheduled 10-round bout at the Paradise Theater, in Bronx, New York. Martinez, ranked # 1 inthe World Boxing Council light middleweight division, hurt Jordan with a right and two left hands in the 4th round, and then finished him off with a flurry of shots while Jordan was against the ropes. Though he was still standing at the time of the stoppage, Jordan looked defenseless, which led to the referee stopping the fight at 0:59 of the fourth round. Martinez, 32, initially had problems with Jordan early on in the first round, as he was hit often by hard jabs from the 6′2″ Jordan. Read more

Heavyweight Monte Barrett (32-6, 18 KOs) gained his revenge last night for a prior loss, defeating Cliff Couser (26-14-2, 14 KOs) by 2nd round TKO of a scheduled six-round bout at the Paradise Theatre, in Bronx, New York. Barrett, 36, was previously stopped in the second round by Couser, 36, in July. This time, however, Barrett had little problem with Couser, dominating the fight with fast combinations before finally knocking Couser down with a barrage of punches in the 2nd round, prompting for referee Dave Fields to stop the bout at 2:16. Couser appeared exhausted after throwing only a handful of punches in the 1st round, and remained too tired to any punches in the 2nd round. Read more