By Eric Thomas: In an interview with Roy Jones Jr. (52-5, 38 KOs) at BoxingTalk’s website, Jones, 39, said that if he can’t land a rematch with Joe Calzaghe, then Roy will be moving up to the heavyweight division. Jones also said that “Calzaghe’s people” are interested in a rematch with him, and that he’s waiting for the word from them, which he should be getting after the Christmas holiday.
Boxing News
Does Hatton Have A Padded Record?
By Michael Lieberman: Maybe the best British fighter ever, Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) is held in high esteem on that tiny island and has dominated much of the news from that area for the past four or so years. He’s done his job admirably, beating some decent fighters during his 11 year professional career. However, I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but when I look at Hatton’s record, I don’t see much substance there.
Shumenov, Zambrano, Popoca-Garcia, More – News
Former Kazakhstan Olympian Beibut Shumenov (7-0, 5 KOs), fresh off of his impressive 10-round decision victory against Columbian knockout artist Epifanio “Diamente” Mendoza (28-6-1, 24 KOs), arguably is the most ambitious, fastest-rising prospect in boxing.
Hopkins Has A lot Of Options To Choose From In 2009
By Dave Lahr: With his 44th birthday about to take place on January 15th, Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs) has almost unlimited opportunities in front of him for 2009, beginning with a great opportunity, should he be interested, in a fight against WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler some time in 2009. That’s a fight for Hopkins if he wants it, as Kessler has already stated his interest in wanting a fight with Hopkins in 2009, so it’s up to Bernard whether he sees any financial rewards in a fight with the Danish warrior
Is Toney A Shot Fighter?
By William Mackay: In the past eight fights spanning three years time, heavyweight James Toney (71-6-3, 43 KOs) has won three fights, lost two with another two ending as no decisions and one a draw. If that’s not an indication of a fighter that has seen better days than I don’t what is. Toney, 40, appears to have run into the limits of his fading talent in the last handful of fights, showing that he’s lost a couple of steps, slowed down a lot with his hand speed and along with it his once high work rate.
Could Pacquiao Beat A Good Welterweight?
By Manuel Perez: Okay, I’ve seen what Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) can do against a 35-year-old, obviously shot, Oscar De La Hoya, but what can Manny do against a quality welterweight that isn’t shot, someone like Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams or Miguel Cotto? To me, that’s the real question. It’s hard to claim much of a victory when you’ve got a fighter that’s been past his prime for at least five years like Oscar, who to make things worse, had to diet drastically to get down to the 147 pound weight limit of the welterweight division, leaving De La Hoya badly weakened.
Will Mayweather Jr. Clean Up The Welterweight Division?
By Chris Williams: With Floyd Mayweather Jr. (39-0, 25 KOs) rumored to be soon coming out of his year-long retirement for potential fights against Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao and who knows else, I think Mayweather has a good opportunity here to straighten out the welterweight division by beating the top fighters and showing who the real boss is in the division. As of now, the top fighters are Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams and Joshua Clottey.
Look For Calzaghe To Retire In 2009
By Scott Gilfoid: With appealing, crowd-pleasing fights in front of him against fighters like Chad Dawson, Carl Froch and Bernard Hopkins, you can probably expect for Joe Calzaghe to hang up the gloves in 2009 and retire from boxing rather than continuing on against dangerous fighters. It seems as if the victories over Mikkel Kessler and Hopkins has effectively put Calzaghe in the shut down mode, leaving him with little desire to continue fighting. Calzaghe’s bout against Roy Jones Jr. was more of a money fight than an actual legacy-building fight for Calzaghe, and was hardly an interesting fight or worthwhile one.
Does De La Hoya Risk Permanent Injury If He Continues To Fight?
By Jim Dower: It was a sad, pitiful sight to see former boxing great Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) getting pummeled by the small Manny Pacquiao on December 6th, and what was even worse than that, was watching De La Hoya pull a “no mas” by quitting on his stool after the 8th round rather than coming out for the 9th and fighting to his last breath. The beating was bad, but the quitting seemed to compound the ordeal, making a bad situation even worse. His face badly beaten, his left eye swollen almost shut, De La Hoya looked as if he had been in a terrible car accident, leaving looking ragged.
Can Judah Recapture His Greatness?
By Jason Kim: With four losses out of his last eight fights, there’s major questions looming about the career of former light welterweight and welterweight champion Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs). While some people consider Judah, 31, to be totally shot, I see it differently. He’s clearly lost a step, that’s for sure, but mostly he never really had the size to compete for long in the welterweight division, and was perhaps only good enough to have limited success at that weight class.