Women’s International Boxing Flyweight champion Regina Halmich (54-1-1) announced her retirement after winning a narrow over Hagar Shmoulefield Finer, a 23 year-old Israeli, on Friday night at the DM Arena in Berlin, Germany. It was a record 45th title defense for Halmich, 31, a record that’s likely not to be broken anytime soon by anyone. Fighting in front of a sell-out crowd of 7500 fans, who had come to say goodbye to Halmich, she didn’t disappoint as she pressed the action from the opening bell, punishing the weaker, slower and less skilled Finer. Read more

In a recent press conference, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs) continued with his barrage of insults towards his opponent Ricky Hatton, whom he faces on December 8th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather, asserted that Hatton had lost to Luis Collazo, in their welterweight bout in May 2006 bout in which Hatton narrowly won by unanimous decision. At the time of their fight, Hatton was the World Boxing Association welterweight champion and was defending it against Collazo, a fighter known mostly as a defensive fighter, who mainly counter punches. Hatton did by far the more work in the bout with Collazo seemingly content to counter punch until late in the bout when Collazo suddenly began making a surge. Read more

Responding to a challenge from once-beaten heavyweight prospect Mike Mollo (19-1, 12 KOs), the often-troubled Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) has agreed to face him on January 19ths, at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Their fight will take place on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad, and perhaps may eclipse that bout in excitement. Mollo, 27, a fighter often compared to Mike Tyson, recently steopped Art Binkowski in the 2nd round on October 13th. Mollo hits very hard, and tends to overwhelm his opponents in the first couple of rounds, bombing them out with hooks and uppercuts. His one lone blemish is a 4th round TKO to the heard-punching DaVarryl Williamson, in May 2006. Read more

As the days draw nearer to the fight, both Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr. seem to have accelerated the insults that they’ve been throwing at each other, almost as if that’s a contest all in itself. Each time I think that Mayweather has it won, Hatton throws a perfect insult which seems to get under Mayweather’s skin far more than the comments he’s making daily about Hatton. Read more

After a day in which Floyd Mayweather complained bitterly about being a nice guy, he fell back into his old way of acting today when he blasted Hatton, saying “The only reason Hatton is 43 and zero is because he hasn’t fought anyone”. He hasn’t fought 43 Floyd Mayweathers because if he had, he’d be zero and 43.” Mayweather, of course, was referring to Hatton’s 43-0 record, which Mayweather feels are meaningless because they were against less than talented fighters. Perhaps a mutual opponent that most of all sticks in his craw, however, is Jose Luis Castillo, who Mayweather struggled to beat on two occasions. Read more

In the latest boxing news, the negotiations between World Boxing Organization interim champion Michael Katsidis and Juan Diaz, the IBF/WBO/WBA lightweight champion, has developed a potential problem due to Diaz’s contract with Don King. Apparently, King wanted an initial postponement of the purse bid, but he overruled by the WBO, who decided to proceed despite King’s reservations. According to Dan Rafael, because of Diaz’s contract with Don King doesn’t end for another four months, he’ll be unable to carry out with the fight with Katsidis, as long as King is against it. Read more

Light heavyweight International Boxing Organization champion Antonio Tarver (25-4, 18 KOs) defends his little known title against Danny Santiago (29-3-1, 19 KOs) on Saturday night at the Foxwoods Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Tarver, 39, is still trying to rebuild his career after suffering a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in June 2006. Though Tarver only lost his IBO light heavyweight title at the time, the damage to his career was much worse because Hopkins was moving up in weight to challenge Tarver. Read more

Unbeaten World Boxing Organization junior flyweight champion Ivan Caderon (29-0, 6 KOs) will be defending his title on Saturday night against challenger Juan Esquer (22-2-1, 17 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Calderon, 32, had previously held the strawweight title since 2003 before abandoning it in August to take on WBO junior flyweight champion Hugo Fidel Cazares, whom he defeated by 12-round split decision. Read more

Light middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez (33-0-1, 26 KOs) returns to the ring on Saturday night against perhaps his best opponent of his young career when he takes on Ray Sanchez (20-1, 15 KOs) at the Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chavez Jr., 21, is trying to follow in his famous father’s footsteps, Julio Cesar Chavez. However, Chavez Jr. still has a long ways to go if he wants to match even a portion of what his famous father accomplished, and there are many out there who feel that Chavez Jr. never will be close to being as good. Read more

By Jonas Muller: International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Nonita Donaire (18-1, 11 KOs) will be defending his title on Saturday night against Luis Maldonado (37-1-1, 28 KOs) at the Foxwoods Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Donaire, 25, is coming off a sensational 5th round TKO of IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan in July, a bout in which Donaire dominated every round of the fight before ultimately dropping Darchinyan with a huge left hook. Read more

World Boxing Council light middleweight champion Vernon Forrest (39-2, 28 KOs) goes up against challenger Michele Piccirillo (48-3, 30 KOs) on Saturday night at the Foxwoods Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Forrest, 36, defeated Carlos Baldomir in a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision in July to win the vacant WBC light middleweight title. However, as easy as it was for Forrest, he was marked up by Baldomir and looked exhausted in the last couple of rounds. Read more

Perhaps stung by the massive amount of criticism that has come his way since the airing of Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 HBO boxing special, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (38-0, 24 KOs), is now suddenly trying to repair his public image of the trash-talking, mean spirited, money-focused fighter, hoping that he can convince the public that he is actually a nice guy. Mayweather, 30, has his work cut our for him, because during all of the promotion tours, including the HBO Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 reality series, Mayweather has come across as a cruel trash talker, constantly insulting Hatton both to his face and behind his back. Read more

After flirting with the idea of a bout with World Boxing Council lightweight champion David Diaz, Manny Pacquiao (45-3-2, 35 KOs) has opted for a rematch with World Boxing Council featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs), which will be taking place on March 15th. Pacquiao, 28, has faced Marquez, 34, before in May 8, 2004, fighting to a draw. Though Pacquiao was able to knock Marquez down three times in the first round, he wasn’t able to sustain his momentum as Marquez came roaring back in the second half of the fight and appeared to have beaten the Filipino star. Read more

IBF Welterweight Champion Kermit Cintron suffered severe ligament damage to his right hand in his successful Nov 23 title defense against Jesse Feliciano, it was announced today by Main Events CEO Kathy Duva. Reading, PA orthopedic surgeon Dr. R. Scott Cook has advised Kermit that he should not engage in any boxing matches until March 1. Read more

While watching the recent Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 episode on HBO, I couldn’t help but notice that Mayweather, 30, seemed to be looking for excuses as he prepared for his December 8th bout against unbeaten Ricky Hatton. Looking at the camera with a look of a sick dog, Mayweather complained bitterly about his various injuries, seeming to look for both sympathy and a ready made excuse should things work out badly for him in his bout with Hatton. His physical trainer, some blond-haired woman, was totally on his side, placating him and encouraging him with advice about his boxing career. Read more

In the latest boxing news, Golden Boy Promotions has won the purse bid of $1,500,000 for the WBO mandatory lightweight clash between super champion Juan Diaz (33-0, 17 KOs) and interim champion Michael Katsidis (23-0, 20 KOs), which has a possible date of January 26th. However, if Diaz fails to sign the contract, he’ll be stripped of his WBO lightweight title, and if Katsidis fails to sign, it will give Diaz up to 18 months go comply with the obligations for his mandatory. Both are expected to sign, however. Diaz, 24, is slated to get an 80% cut, while Katsidis is to get 20%. Read more

Former flyweight champion Jorge Arce (47-4-1, 36 KOs) will take on Medgoen Singsurat (48-4, 34 KOs) on Saturday night at Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the line with be the World Boxing Council Latino bantamweight championship, a little known belt, yet it shows how far Arce, 28, has fallen since losing a one-sided unanimous decision in a WBC super flyweight championship bout with Cristian Mijares in April 2007. Since then, Arce has moved up to the bantamweight division (118 lbs) where he looked bad in his last bout against a very average Tomas Rojas before stopping him in the sixth round in September 2007. Read more

In somewhat of a shocking display of bravado, former eight -time world champion Roy Jones Jr. called out super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe at a recent press conference, saying “I can fight at practically any weight right now. “I can drop down to 168 pounds and take on Joe Calzaghe. “‘ll fight him anywhere” he wants. Jones Jr is back and ready to fight.” Perhaps Jones, 38, has taken notice of Calzaghe’s frustration with trying to arrange a bout with light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins, and hopes to make easier for Calzaghe by being much more pliable. Read more

Undefeated super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe is backing Ricky Hatton to defeat Floyd Mayweather in their December 8th welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to reports, Calzaghe, 35, is so much interested in this bout, he has already purchased tickets and plans on flying over to see the fight live. Calzaghe said this about the fight: “I’m going over and I’m going to be rooting for Ricky. I think he’s got a great chance.” However, Calzaghe added “The heart wants Hatton to win but my head says Mayweather because he’s an amazing fighter.” Like most fans and boxers alike, they’re picking Mayweather, 30, to win the fight because of his superior boxing ability and supreme athleticism. Read more

International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) hasn’t seemed particularly motivated lately in the recent press conferences leading up to his unification bout with World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 Kos). In fact, if I were to guess at how Wladimir is feeling oveall, he seems to actually be bored with his upcoming February 23rd bout agaist the 32 year-old Ibragimov. Read more