By Chris Thomas: According to the latest rumor mill, Oscar De La Hoya is considering fighting former junior welterweight Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs) for his May 3rd tune-up bout. Nothing has been nailed down at this time, but the 30 year-old Forbe’s name has rose to the head of the list for potential opponents. At 5′7,” Forbes would be at a considerable disadvantage against the taller 5′11″ De La Hoya, who could stand back and pound away at him all fight long without even getting a scratch. Though it’s quite normal for fighters to fight less than impressive fighters in their tune-up bouts, I had expected a little better from De La Hoya than this, if this indeed turns out to be his opponent for his tune-up bout. Read more…

“Saloon-keeper Tom Sharkey, retired heavyweight contender,
is doing some fancy footwork in avoiding the current NYC
ban on boxing by awarding ‘membership’ to every fighter
he books for his Athletic Club brawls in his Lincoln Square
cellar.”—The New York Times, 1909

The kid comes down Sharkey’s stairs slapping
Snow off his great-coat, the threadbare elbows
Sporting ragtag patches cut from the hem.
He’s got a fresh shiner from one of the 3 other
Smokers he’s already worked tonight & a few
Random welts starting to fade. He weaves his way Read more…

In the latest boxing news, former three-time champion James Toney (70-6, 43 KOs) is reportedly planning on making a March comeback against an un-named opponent. Toney, now 39, has been out of action for almost a year since winning a 10-round split decision against Danny Batchelder in May 2007.

After the bout, however, Toney tested for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended from boxing for a year. Though the suspension was later lowered to six months, it’s still a lot of time for a boxer as old as the 39 year-old Toney, who hasn’t looked good in the ring since losing a controversial 12-round split decision to Samuel Peter in a World Boxing Council title eliminator bout in September 2006. Since then, Toney came back and fought Peter once again, this time looking in even worse shape and losing a lopsided decision in January 2007. Read more…

This Saturday night, #2 rated heavyweight in the IBF, undefeated Alexander Povetkin (14-0, 11 KOs) goes up against what I personally consider to be the best American heavyweight Eddie Chambers (30-0, 16 KOs) when they meet in the International Boxing Federation elimination fight at Tempodrom, Kreuzberg, in Berlin, Germany. Most people feel that Povetkin, 28, the former 2004 Olympic super heavyweight boxing champion, to be the one that will come out on top and thus move on to a late 2008 showdown with the winner of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov.

Povetkin, however, has faced mostly limited competition in his short career, most recently defeating Chris Byrd by an 11th round stoppage on October 27, 2007. Povetkin looked vulnerable against Byrd, and was repeatedly hit with straight left hands all night long. Povetkin had trouble hitting the badly slowed 37 year-old Byrd, and looked even slower than he did. In contrast, IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, made it look easy blasting apart Byrd a year earlier on April 22nd, 2006. Of course, Povetkin isn’t fighting Klitschko this Saturday, and will only have to deal with the speedy and elusive Chambers. Read more…

Despite accomplishing little in his career in recent years, eight-time title winner Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) has firmly set his sights on the winner of Jermain Taylor vs. Kelly Pavlik or the Joe Calzaghe vs. Bernard Hopkins bouts which are coming up. Of the two bouts, Jones would prefer to fight Calzaghe, 35, who figures to be the one that will emerge as the winner over the 43 year-old Hopkins. However, from a fan’s perspective, the thought of a champion like Calzaghe or Pavlik having to face a 40 year-old Jones, at least to me, seems rather disappointing. Jones may have had a handful of die-hard fans in the 90s, with his Floyd Mayweather Jr. like pot shotting style of fighting, but I think there’s just as many fans who disliked watching him fight. Read more…

In an outcome that surprised few, Roy Jones Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) defeated Felix Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Trinidad, 35, was taking the fight after a two and half year layoff, without any kind of a tune-up bout before hand. However, Trinidad looked mostly good in the first six rounds of the fight, out-working and out-landing the 39 year-old Jones, who looked badly over-the-hill.

Trinidad dominated each of the first six rounds with a good body attack, ripping hooks to Jones’ midsection and head. As usual, Roy would throw an occasional pot shot and pose a lot in between. However, he wasn’t able to keep up with the pace that Trinidad was setting for him in the early going. Quite frequently, Jones would retreat to the ropes and play the rope-a-dope routine, covering up and letting Trinidad tag him. The final judges’ scores were 117-109, 116-110 and 116-110, awarding the decision to Jones. Read more…

In a fight that was marred by excessive wrestling on the inside, undefeated World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs) won a hard-fought unanimous decision over 40 year-old Matt Skelton (21-2, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at the Burg-Waechter Castello, in Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. In the opening round, Skelton found a way to negate Chagaev’s superior offensive attack, namely by grabbing him and trying to maul him on the inside. It worked perfectly, at least for awhile, as Skelton expertly used fine inside fighting tactics, such as holding and hitting, leaning on his opponent and rabbit punches, all to perfection.

The inside fighting also had the effect of wearing down Chagaev, who was making his first defense of his title which he won last year in April 2007, with a controversial majority decision over then champion Nikolay Valuev. Chagaev looked poor on that night, hardly seeming to win any rounds against the 7-foot giant, and didn’t look a whole better against Skelton. The problem for Skelton, however, is that he looked even worse than Chagaev, for he quickly ran out of gas after round three of the fight, and was like a large slug for the remaining rounds. Read more…

Undefeated junior welterweight prospect Devon Alexander (14-0, 9 KO’s) had little trouble grinding out a 12-round lopsided unanimous decision against former World Boxing Organization junior welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley (31-8-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Aside from the opening round when the 33 year-old Corley appeared to land the harder shots, Alexander had smooth sailing for the rest of the way, as he used his jab and straight left hand to easily defeat Corley. Read more…

Undefeated super bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (26-0, 10 KOs) won an impressive, albeit bloody, 12-round unanimous decision over the hard-hitting Ricardo Castillo (33-5, 22 KOs) on Saturday night at the Casino Rama, Rama, in Ontario, Canada. Molitor, 27, had problems with the power of Castillo, the younger brother of famous fighter Jose Luis Castillo. However, by the second half of the fight, Molitor adapted his style and was able to avoid many of Castillo’s big right hand shots and easily out-box him in the remaining rounds. The judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 118-109, giving Molitor the victory.

Molitor was cut in the fourth round over his left eye, from a looking right hand thrown by Castillo. The cut would remain a problem for the duration of the fight, often leaking blood into Molitor’s left eye and making it hard for him to see. Castillo, 28, applied a tremendous amount of pressure on Molitor in the early going, trying to get in close so that he could land his sharp hooks. However, Molitor would quickly reach out and spin Castillo around, turning him to the ropes where he’d be trapped. The southpaw Molitor would then land straight left hands and right hooks, catching Castillo as he would come forward. Molitor showed beautiful boxing ability, using the ring to keep a cushion between him and Castillo. Again and again, Molitor would land combinations and stopping Castillo in his tracks. Read more…

Polish heavyweight Andrew Golota (41-6-1, 33 KOs) continued with his successful comeback effort when he defeated prospect Mike Molla (19-2, 12 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision to win the World Boxing Association Fedelatin heavyweight title on Saturday night to win the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Golota, now 40 years-old, had his left eye completely swollen shut by the 7th round, but it didn’t matter much, as he had more than enough skills to pound out the 12-round decision over the completely spent 27 year-old Molla. The final judges’ scores were 116-110, 116-112 and 118-109, all for Golota.

In the first round, Molla jumped all over Golota, hitting him with a massive flurry of shuts, mostly to the body. However, when Golota remained standing, Molla had no idea what do do next, and spent most of the remaining rounds constantly clinching Golota and doing little else. Read more…

In a shocking upset, junior middleweight Alex Bunema (29-5-2, 15 KOs) knocked #4 ranked International Boxing Federation junior middleweight Roman Karmazin (36-3-1, 23 KOs) down two times in the process of stopping in the 10th round of a scheduled 12-round bout for the World Boxing Association Inter-Continental light middleweight title on Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Karmazin, 35, had pretty much had his way with the 32 year-old Bunema all fight long, dominating him with left hooks and jabs. However, Karmazin, who makes it a practice of carrying his hands to his sides rather than keeping them up high and protecting his chin, got decked with a left hook from Bunema in the opening moments of the 10th round.

It would have taken a miracle for Karmazin to have survived the rest of the round after that knockdown, as he was badly hurt. As soon as he made it up, Bunema, a fighter not ranked in the top 15 and merely brought in as an opponent for Karmazin, began wildly throwing punches, many of them missing. However, after missing a handful of shots, Bunema finally connected with pay dirt, tagging Karmazin with a big left and then a right hand that dropped him to the canvas, where he lay there almost senseless. The referee Johnny Callas then promptly stopped the bout at 1:36 of the 10th round. Read more…

Undefeated Russian heavyweight prospect Denis Boytsov (20-0, 18 KOs) obliterated his badly out of shape and overmatch American opponent Tommy Connelly (17011, 13 KOs) in the 1st round of a scheduled eight-round bout on Saturday night at the Burg-Waechter Castello, in Dusseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Boytsov, 21, a former amateur standout from Russia, had little trouble with Connelly, knocking him down three separate times in the 1st round before the referee Heinrich Muehmert moved in and halted the bout at 1:51 of the 1st round.

At the start of the bout, Connelly, 26, came out fast, landing a left-right combination followed by another right hand that got Boytsov’s immediate attention. Not to be out done, Boytsov landed a right hand of his own, then added several jabs to back Connelly up to the ropes. Once he had in position, Boytsov landed a hard 1-2 combination that dropped Connelly to the canvas. He immediately sprang to his feet and initiated a clinch as soon as the action was resumed, trying to buy some time to clear his head. However, Boytsov began pouring in huge combinations, hitting him at will with a volley of shots, ending with two lefts and two rights that knocked Connelly to the canvas for the second time in the round. Read more…

It only took undefeated former two-time U.S amateur champion Eric Fields (11-0, 9 KOs) about a minute to completely destroy Kelvin Davis’ (24-8-2, 17 KOs) hopes of a successful comeback, as the undefeated 25 year-old cruiserweight prospect made easy work of Davis, stopping him in the 1st round on Friday night at the Mallory Square, in Key West, Florida. It was either an act of tremendous bravery on Davis’ part or sheer foolishness by choosing the 6′2″ Fields so soon after Davis, a former International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion, had broken both his back and neck in a freak accident last year in New Zealand.

It was almost as if Davis was looking for problems. Well, Fields didn’t waste any time testing Davis’ chin in the first round, because in the open seconds of the round, Fields let loose with a right hand and knocked Davis down. It didn’t seem like that big of a punch, but due to the size of Field’s and perhaps the fact that Davis had a lot of ring rust, made the punch look much more powerful than it really was. Davis immediately got to his feet, though he looked badly shaken from the punch, and it looked bad for him, for there was almost three minutes left in the round for him to have to try and recover. Read more…

Hard-hitting welterweight prospect Ed Paredes (18-2, 11 KOs) destroyed a badly overmatched but game Cesar Vega in the 5th round of a scheduled six-round bout on Friday night at the Mallory Square, in Key West, Florida. Paredes, 22, an exciting fighter regularly shown on ESPN, cornered Vega, 30, against the ropes in the fifth round and blasted him out with a flurry of punches, ending with a big right hand that snapped Vega’s head back, prompting the referee to move in and put a stop to the bout at 2:50 of the 5th round. Read more…

Undefeated bantamweight contender Raul Martinez (21-0, 13 KOs) continued with his success, winning a grueling eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman fighter Alex Baba (26-12-1, 19 KOs) on Friday night at the Jacob Brown Auditorium, in Brownsville, Texas. Martinez, ranked #9th in the World Boxing Organization & World Boxing Association bantamweight division, had a little too much skill and youth for the 37 year-old Baba, though the fight ended up being perhaps more difficult than Martinez, 25, perhaps imagined going in. Martinez led through the opening rounds, but Baba, a fighter that never stops punching, seemed to wear Martinez down over the last four rounds, and made the fight competitive.

The final judges’ scores were 79-73, 78-74 and 78-74. However, I had the fight scored as a draw, as Baba seemed to give Martinez a lot of problems with his constant pressure, and seemed to be wearing him out near the end of the fight. In fact, Martinez, who generally comes forward all the time, started back up in the last two rounds of the fight, using mostly his jab to try and keep Baba off of him. It didn’t work, but it looked impressive, as Martinez threw double and triple jabs over and over again. Read more…

Welterweight contender Jesus Soto-Karrass (19-3-3, 14 KOs) won a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision on Friday night over veteran Germaine Sanders (27-5, 17 KOs) at the Jacob Brown Auditorium, in Brownsville, Texas. Karrass, 25, cruised through the first four rounds of the fight, out-punching the 37 year-old Sanders with hooks to the body and head. Karass, ranked #10 in the World Boxing Organization welterweight division, had little problems, as Sanders seemed only interested in throwing jabs during most of the action.

Though his jab was an effective tool against Karass, it wasn’t enough to win the rounds, for Karass would generally wait until the last minute of each round to open up with his body attacks. The final judges’ scores were 95-93, 97-92 and 96-93, all for Karass.

In rounds one through four, Karass constantly came forward, shooting hooks, and right hands to the head of Sanders, backing him up. During most of the rounds, Sanders rarely threw a punch other than a jab, as if he were afraid to commit himself to a punch for fear of getting countered by Karass. Read more…

It’s a special edition of BOXING AFTER DARK when HBO Sports presents FELIX TRINIDAD VS. ROY JONES, JR. the exclusive replay of their light heavyweight showdown, this SATURDAY, JAN. 26 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO. The HBO Sports broadcast team, which was ringside for the live event at Madison Square Garden in New York, will call all the action. The replay will be available in HDTV. Carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View, the Jan. 19 fight featured the long anticipated showdown between two future Hall of Fame performers. The 39-year-old Roy Jones, Jr. scored a unanimous decision victory in the 170-pound showdown. The exclusive replay will be paired with the previously announced BOXING AFTER DARK telecast from Berlin as Alexander Povetkin meets Eddie Chambers in a heavyweight tilt. Read more…

Former World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Randall Bailey (36-6, 33 KOs) obliterated his over-matched opponent Anthony Mora (15-2, 10 KOs) in the 5th round last night to win the vacant WBC Latino light welterweight title at the Mallory Square, in Key West, Florida. Bailey, 33, who was coming off a dreadful 12-round split decision loss to Herman Ngoudjo in his last bout on July 8th, 2007, seemed to want to make an example out of the 30 year-old Mora, as every punch that Bailey threw looked to have knockout intentions on it.

Bailey knocked Mora down late in the 4th round with a big right hand, and then finished him off with another scorching right hand early in the 5th. After the second knockdown, Mora looked badly hurt, blood coming out of his mouth. To his credit, he quickly jumped to his feet want wanted to continue fighting, but his cornerman came in the ring and stopped the fight to prevent Mora from taking any more punishment. It was a good thing he did, because Bailey, who punches like an ox, was going to literally take Mora’s head off with another right if the action had continued for any longer. Read more…

Sham Pickering (33-6, 13 KOs) gained revenge on Friday night against Sean Hughes (14-7-1, 1 KOs) by stopping him in the 9th round of a scheduled 12-round bout for the BBofC British super bantamweight title at the Meadowside Leisure Centre, in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. Pickering, hurt Hughes with two big right hands in the 9th round, causing the referee move in and stop the bout, although it appeared to be a premature stoppage. Read more…

On March 22nd, undefeated knockout artist Michael Katsidis (23-0, 20 KOs), the World Boxing Organization lightweight champion, will be going up against WBC lightweight champion 36 year-old Joel Casamayor (35-3-1, 21 KOs) at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California. It’s a make a break fight for Casamayor, who is coming off of a very controversial 12-round split decision victory over Jose Armando Santa Cruz on November 10th. Read more…

During this past week with all the news on the old timers bout between Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones, I took another look at Trinidad’s bout with Winky Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs), which turned out to be a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision victory for Wright in May 2005. I wondered why, a fighter with as much talent as the 36 year-old Wright, didn’t get the type of fame and popularity as other fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bernard Hopkins get. Since turning professional in 1990, Wright has only been beaten four times, yet of the four, three of the losses - to Hopkins, Fernando Vargas and Harry Simon - have been highly controversial.

In point of fact, I only consider Wright’s loss to World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Julio Cesar Vasquez in August 1994, as being Wright’s only legitimate loss. In that fight, Wright dominated Vazquez for most of the fight before tiring out in the later rounds, and subsequently getting knocked down four times en route to losing a 12-round decision. Read more…

In the latest boxing news, former six-time champion Oscar De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs) will be fighting a tune-up bout on May 3rd against an un-named opponent before Oscar takes Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch which will likely be held on September 20th. Best of all, De La Hoya’s tune-up fight will be shown on regular HBO, giving the fans a break from not having to fork over $49.95 for a PPV bout. Read more…

Undefeated middleweight prospect Andy Lee (14-0, 11 KOs) will be taking on the tough Alejandro Gustavo Falliga (14-3-2, 4 KOs) on February 2nd, at the University Sports Arena in Limerick, Ireland. Lee, 23, considered by many people to be one of the best prospects in the middleweight division, has been quickly moving up against tougher competition. In choosing Falliga, 25, Lee is facing his best opponent of his career. Read more…

40 year-old heavyweight contender Andrew Golota (40-6-1, 33 KOs) will be fighting on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad bout this Saturday night against heavyweight prospect Mike Molla (19-1, 12 KOs) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Golota, ranked #10 in the World Boxing Council, is going up against one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division in Molla. Normally, this would be a bout that an experienced heavyweight like Golota could win fairly easy, since Molla has been in with only one top fighter in his career, DaVarryl Williamson, and was blown out in the 4th round in May 2006. Read more…

In an interview at fightnews.com, Roy Jones Jrs. (51-4, 38 KOs) had this to say about Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs) in reference to their handspeed, “Only Floyd Mayweather comes close to me and he’s still 10 miles an hour slower.” At first I thought Jones was just being himself, bragging in his typical fashion, but I found myself agreeing with him about him being faster, as I don’t see Mayweather as having nearly the kind of blazing speed that Jones has, even now. Earlier in Jones’ career, there could be no such comparison, for he had almost blinding handspeed, the type of speed which allowed him to get away with not holding his hands up to protect him.

It also made him much more unpredictable, because it was often hard to tell where his punches would be coming from due the speed with which he’d throw them. Jones never had to worry about things like fundamentals, because his speed would enable him to take short cuts, forgoing the typical worries of having to cover up to guard against incoming shots. Of course, his foot speed has unfortunately slowed down much more than his handspeed, as has ability to get out of the way of punches. However, his handspeed, even now, appears to be faster than Mayweather. Read more…