By Eric Thomas: As reported by ESPN writer Dan Rafael, the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey bout could possibly have former World Boxing Association welterweight champion Antonio Margarito fighting in the co-main event.
If this turns out to be the case, it would be the first bout for Margarito in over a year since his 9th round stoppage loss to Shane Mosley in January 2009.
By Jim Dower: Undefeated Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) beat World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Daniel Santos (32-4-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12-round unanimous decision in a fight that was marred by constant head butts in almost every round on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
By Eric Thomas: World Boxing Association featherweight champion Chris Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KOs) will be fighting a rematch with American challenger Rocky Juarez (28-4-1, 20 KOs) on June 27th at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. This is excellent news because the previous fight between John, 29, and Juarez ended up in a controversial 12-round draw in February at the Toyota Center, in Houston, Texas.
British middleweight champion Wayne Elcock says he’s happy to let mandatory challenger Matthew Macklin talk the talk ahead of their massive all Birmingham clash on a Hennessy Sports show at the Aston Arena in the city on March 14th live on ITV4. Macklin is predicting a knockout win over his local rival but Elcock and his trainer have blasted Macklin saying, “Talk is cheap”. The champion though says he won’t be drawn into a war of words ahead of the mouth watering showdown.
By Peter Kurth: This last weekend was particularly hard on former IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (29-2, 27 KOs) and former star from The Contender Alfonso Gomez (18-4-2, 8 KOs), both of which were destroyed by their opponents Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.
Of the two, Gomez took the worse beating, but then again, he was never excepted to be very competitive in the first place, having been brought in largely for an easy payday for the WBA welterweight champion Cotto. Certainly Cotto deserved an easy fight after having fought Zab Judah and Shane Mosley in back to back fights, but there was hope by some that Gomez might have a sliver of a chance against Cotto.
By Chris Thomas: With this recent news story of World Boxing Association welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KOs) opting to defend his title against Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs), a fighter from the television series “The Contender,” on April 12th at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, I wonder if Cotto pursued every avenue to find a better opponent than Gomez? For a fighter as good and as popular as Cotto, you would think that he’d want to take on a quality opponent, at least someone ranked in the top 15, if not the top 5.
Undefeated World Boxing Association welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KOs) will be making his fourth title defense when he takes on Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs) on April 12th at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gomez, a former star from the reality television series The Contender, is mostly known as being the fighter that retired a badly shop worn Arturo Gatti, stopping him in the 7th round on July 14th, 2007. Other than that, Gomez has little to get excited about. He’s essentially a good 2nd tier fighter, one that will put on a good show against lesser B-level fighters, but will be hopelessly outclassed against top notch opposition such as Cotto.
Late last year, Gomez has been mentioned as a possible opponent for for prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. However, for whatever reason, Gomez’s name was withdrawn as a prospective opponent for Chavez, probably because he was far too dangerous for him.
Welterweight contender Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs) won a harder than expected unanimous decision over former lightweight start Ben Tackie (29-8-1, 17 KOs) on Tuesday night at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. Gomez, 26, a former fighter from the reality television series “The Contender” controlled virtually every round of the fight as he outworked the older 34-year old Tackie with a high volume punch out. However, though Tackie landed far less punches, his more powerful shots badly marked up Gomez’s face and him in full retreat in the last two rounds of the fight. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-92, 97-93, awarding Gomez the decision.
Gomez, hoping to land a future bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in early 2008, boxed circles round the slower, less active Tackie in rounds one though seven, making him look old in comparison. Gomez used his jab, superior movement and combinations to keep Tackie on the outside and bottled up for most of the bout. Tackie, however, kept up with his usual constant pressure, forcing the younger Gomez to throw a lot of punches, much more than he had to do in his last bout against the washed up Arturo Gatti.