Sparmate Porter gives Pacquiao a hard workout

Unbeaten junior middleweight prospect Shawn Porter gave Manny Pacquiao a hard workout on his first day of sparring at his Baguio training camp.

Porter engaged the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter in three intense rounds, highlighted by numerous exchanges of hard shots, according to the few people lucky enough to witness the slambang action held behind closed doors at the Shape-Up gym inside the Cooyesan Hotel Plaza.

“The three-round sparring was good, really good," said Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz.

“Malaki tsaka malakas," said a source, who saw the 21-year-old Porter of Akron, Ohio spar with Pacquiao for the very first time.

Porter, holder of a perfect 10-0 ring record with 8 KOs, is a first-time Pacquiao sparmate in training camp. Trainer Freddie Roach thoroughly handpicked him to precisely imitate the fighting style of Miguel Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight titlist from Puerto Rico whom Pacquiao fights on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“He’s perfect for this training camp," said Roach of the 2007 National Golden gloves middleweight champion.

Manny Pacquiao

Porter is one of two Pacquiao sparmates now in Baguio City trying to get the Filipino ring icon in perfect shape for his 12-round fight with Cotto.



Lightweight Urbano Antillon, a regular Pacquiao sparmate, is the other one, while on a standby call is another Pacman regular sparring partner David Rodela as well as Puerto Rican Raymond Tito Serrano.


Sparring for the 30-year-old boxing champ will be held thrice a week or every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.


By Thursday, he will go two rounds each with Antillon and Porter in time for the arrival of Top Rank big boss Bob Arum.



The veteran boxing promoter will be immediately whisked to the City of Pines shortly upon arriving in Manila early morning of Thursday.


Arum’s visit at the Pacquiao training camp marks the scheduled media day arranged by the boxing superstars’ handlers, when training and workout by the Filipino ring idol will be made open to members of the working press. - GMANews.TV 


SOURCE

Cotto feeling good, relaxed

WHILE MANNY PACQUIAO continues to rock Baguio City with his mere presence as he prepares for his last fight of the year, his opponent, Miguel Cotto, is quietly getting himself ready for the bout scheduled Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.
“Just getting back from the gym, everything excellent,” Cotto posted in his Twitter page, even as his team has started getting busy trying to come up with a game plan against the hard-punching Pacquiao.
“[I’m] relaxed and feeling good,” added Cotto, who has been posting regular updates on his Twitter page.
“Up until today we’ve held several meetings to examine what Manny can bring to the fight,” Cotto trainer Joe James told PrimeraHora.com. “We are watching many Pacquiao fights. We also saw his two fights where he was defeated, but we are still watching more. Although he has dominated, there is always something we can capitalize on. We do not rule out any fight.”
Cotto had earlier said he was aware of the Filipino ring icon’s vaunted punching power, remarking during a recent press tour that “the punch he gave Ricky Hatton, if he hits with this kind of punch, he can throw Mike Tyson to the canvas.”
“But I’m not Ricky Hatton,” Cotto added.
Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, however, said the reigning pound-for-pound king will overwhelm Cotto with speed.
Roach predicted a knockout victory for his ward.
“I picked him to win by decision, but until I started working with him to this camp, the way he’s punching, his speed, we will knock this guy out,” Roach said.
“We will bust him up a little bit. Basically we’re going to have a fast start and we’re not going to give [Cotto] any momentum.”
Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 knockouts) will battle Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) over 12-rounds for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Both combatants agreed to fight at a catch weight of 145 lb.
A win by Pacquiao will make him the first boxer to win world crowns in seven different weight divisions, including linear titles.
Meanwhile, Floyd Mayweather Sr. continues to harbor the belief that Pacquiao is no match to his undefeated son, Floyd Jr., who is coming off a 12-round decision over Juan Manuel Marquez.
“Pacquiao had [Marquez] down three times in one round and hurt bad and couldn’t finish him,” Mayweather told FightHype.com. “Not only could he not finish him, he got his ears boxed off after that, so what do you think my son would do to him?”
“Pretty Boy” Floyd and the Pacman are headed on a megabuck collision course next year.
Mayweather may also be headed for a pre-Pacquiao showdown against Shane Mosley, who called out the former pound-for-pound king right on the ring after the Marquez duel.

Floyd Sr. says Pacquiao 'ain't got skills

MANILA – After seeing his son's victory over a "smaller" Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather Sr. has joined boxing fans in demanding a "mega fight" between Floyd Jr. and Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.
“I want him to fight Pacquiao,” Floyd Sr., who earlier accused Pacquiao of using steroids, said in a report by Fanhouse.com.
He said that Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound champ, doesn't have the tools to beat his son Floyd Jr., now ranked as No. 2 in the Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound list.
"He don't have no skills, he ain't got skills like my son… He's not in Floyd's league -- that's so plain to see that Ray Charles can see it," said Floyd Sr.
Fight fans have been anticipating a collision between Pacquiao and Floyd Jr., since the former pound-for-pound champion came out of retirement last May.

The collision, according to ESPN’s boxing analyst Teddy Atlas, is a fight everyone wants to see.
But before Pacquiao could set a match up with Floyd Jr., he would still have to dispose of World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 14.
“I think he will [get past Cotto],” Atlas said in ESPN.com. “Then it's gonna be a mega fight... It's gonna be Mayweather ‘the Money man’ against the Pacman.”
Meanwhile, Floyd Sr., seemed to have softened on his “steroids claims” against Pacquiao after the Filipino has threatened to press a defamation suit against him. (www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/09/20/09/pacman-threatens-floyd-sr-defamation...)
“That's my opinion. I mean everybody in the world have opinions,” he told Bev Llorente of the ABS-CBN North America News Bureau.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission already cleared Pacquiao of steroids use in all his fights in their state.
Pacquiao, Roach getting down to business

After arriving in Baguio City on Tuesday, Pacquiao’s coach Freddie Roach immediately got down to business in training his ward for the Cotto fight.

Roach and strength trainer Alex Ariza wasted no time in getting Pacquiao into shape for the November 14 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“I’m ok with training here, as long as Manny is happy with the conditions, for sure it will be okay with me too,” said Roach.
Pacquiao, in fact, kicked off his training in Baguio City last Monday without Roach. He jogged and made 1,000 abdominal crunches at Burnham Park then proceeded for his gym work.
Two sparring partners are also set to arrive in Baguio City to join Pacquiao’s training camp. – With a report from TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News

as of 09/23/2009 4:50 PM

Source:
          ABS-CBN News

Online Polls show Pacquiao still No. 1

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao remains the world’s pound-for-pound king in an online survey of a popular sports website despite Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s impressive win in his comeback fight over the weekend. Poll results posted by Yahoo! Sports had Pacquiao comfortably ahead of Mayweather as boxing’s current pound-for-pound king. The survey was made just after Mayweather’s domination of Mexican champion Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday in Las Vegas. In Yahoo! Sports’ poll – which fielded the question “Who is boxing’s pound-for-pound king?” – 66 percent voted for Pacquiao, while only 31 percent went for Mayweather. Three percent, meanwhile, opted for other boxers.

Over 82,000 votes were cast at presstime. Pacquiao inherited the mythical pound-for-pound title from Mayweather after the latter retired in 2008.

Mayweather, however, came back from a 21-month layoff to face Marquez in an attempt to reclaim the pound-for-pound throne from Pacquiao. The Filipino soutpaw, on the other hand, has done his part in firming up his No. 1 status with impressive wins over David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. “Pacquiao solidified his claim on the top spot after stopping David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in spectacular fashions. Mayweather couldn’t simply return to boxing after 21 months and overthrow the true king – no matter what happened on Saturday night,” The Ring, a partner of Yahoo! Sports, said in a brief commentary. “Mayweather might very well be the best fighter in the world. The pound-for-pound title must be earned, though. And, hopefully, Mayweather will get his chance or chances to do that,” it said.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, has started training in Baguio City for his megafight with Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas. A victory over the Puerto Rican will likely set up the General Santos City-based fighter against Mayweather early or midway next year.         – STAR contributor Dino Maragay

Source:
          The Philippine Star
.

Boxing notes: De La Hoya looking to cash in on Mayweather bout

LAS VEGAS — As a fighter, Oscar De La Hoya approached the ring with caution. As a promoter, De La Hoya has thrown caution to the wind regarding Saturday's welterweight non-title bout between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET).

"We strongly feel it's going to break that million mark. That's how strong we feel about the promotion. ... The visibility this fight has had has been incredible," says the president of Golden Boy Promotions, which is the event's co-promoter. "It's just the beginning. You watch." Mayweather-Marquez is a test balloon for a new approach to selling major boxing events. In addition to the PPV telecast, the card will be shown nationwide via closed circuit in 170 theaters through NCM Fathom at $12.50-$15. HBO launched a new initiative to reach younger views through digital marketing and has saturated social networking Internet sites.

Although Mayweather was part of the biggest PPV show in history when his defeat of De La Hoya in 2007 drew 2.4 million buys, this is the first time he's had to be the headliner. Before facing De La Hoya, the biggest draw in PPV history, Mayweather hasn't surpassed 400,000 buys in three previous appearances.

The former welterweight champion has been inactive for two years and is fighting an opponent who has never fought above lightweight (135).

—

Ortiz returns: Victor Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KOs) expects to return to the ring on Dec. 12 on HBO, the bout likely to be staged in the Los Angeles area underneath Shane Mosley's next bout. December 26 also has been floated as a possible date. An opponent has yet to be determined. Ortiz was derailed in his first major bout in June when he retired in the sixth round of a back-and-forth brawl vs. Marcos Maidana as both fighters hit the canvas.

—

Coming to America: Oscar De La Hoya announced that Golden Boy has acquired the exclusive U.S. promotional rights to Venezuelan Jorge Linares (27-0, 18 KOs), an exceptional junior lightweight talent who has fought just once on U.S. soil. All but nine of Linares' fights have taken place in Japan, where Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions holds his promotional rights. Linares holds one of the three major belts at 130 pounds after a knockout of Whyber Garcia last year. He'll make a defense on Oct. 10 vs. Juan Carlos Salgado (20-0-1, 14 KOs) in Toyko before coming to the U.S. "In order to fight here in the States, he wants to come prepared, not only inside the ring but outside the ring," says De La Hoya of Linares' desire to learn English. Linares speaks three languages, including Japanese. "There's a lot of good fighters in his weight class. ... When fighters tell us, 'Hey I'll fight anybody,' we're going to put him in with anybody. Whoever is in his way to unify the titles, that's who he's going to fight."

—

No means no: After the Linares announcement, De La Hoya, who has been retired since his December 2008 stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao, took a moment to squash any speculation that his news conference Saturday afternoon, or any other news conference in the future, will have anything to do with him fighting again.

"No, I'm not making a comeback. No I'm never fighting. No it's not going to happen and nobody's going to lure me back in," says the president of GBP. "The only fight I'm going to have is a Shaq rematch." De La Hoya won a "decision" over Shaquille O'Neal in a recent made-for-TV matchup.

—

Money: Two days before the fight, Mayweather strayed far beyond the Las Vegas strip as he was followed by cameras. Parked across the street from a Salvation Army, Mayweather handed out bagged lunches and bottled water to approximately 75-100 people. "I'm here to feed the American people," he says. "I'm just doing what the President told me to do."

In one instance, he pulled out a roll of cash from his pocket, giving a woman $200 to feed her four young girls. A piece of the segment was captured near the end of the final episode of 24/7: Mayweather/Marquez on HBO.

—

The Game: WWE superstar Triple H, aka The Game, will accompany Mayweather into the ring Saturday night. Mayweather participated in the ring at Wrestlemania XXIV last year and hosted a recent live episode of Monday Night Raw on USA Network.

Source:
     USA Today Sports
.

All the Lates Boxing News

DAVID PRICE has signed a three-year deal with promoter Frank Maloney.

The 26-year-old heavyweight, who turned professional after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has just one fight in the paid ranks under his belt — a third-round victory over Dave Ingleby.

He will make his debut for the Maloney stable in Sunderland on October 16.

And Maloney believes the Olympic bronze medallist can make an impact among the big boys.

He said: "With the right handling and the right fights, David can become a superstar and a household name.

"Heavyweights are different to other boxers — they have to be handled and guided differently.

"If he knocks over a few people I certainly won't be rushing him."

---

MATTHEW MACKLIN won the vacant European middleweight title with a stunning first-round stoppage of Finland's Amin Asikainen on Friday night.

Birmingham boxer Macklin, who is promoted by Ricky Hatton, initially put Asikainen down with a fierce left hook.

The former European champion got up but failed to repeat the trick when Macklin connected with a short right.

---

BERNARD DUNNE'S first defence of the WBA world super-bantamweight title ended in defeat against Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym in Dublin.

Dunne impressed in the opening two rounds against his Thai opponent and appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory.

But the 29-year-old was dismantled in the third round with K rating daeng gym flooring him three times.

Source:

           THE SUN
.

Laval boxer Pascal retains world title

Jean Pascal stopped Italian veteran Silvio Branco in the 10th round to retain his WBC light heavyweight title on Friday night at Bell Centre in Montreal.

Laval boxer Jean Pascal embraces his daughter, Angel, after making the first successful defence of his title on Friday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

Pascal (24-1), of Laval, Que., knocked down his opponent once in the seventh and twice more in the 10th before the Italian's corner threw in the towel to put an end to a nasty but one-sided bout.

"It was a relief in the end," said Pascal. "It was the first time I defended a title and I was nervous in the beginning.

"It wasn't the prettiest fight, but it will help me in my career. He has a difficult style. I tip my hat to Mr. Branco, even if I find that he is a very good actor."

Pascal, 26, won the title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Montreal-based Adrian Diaconu (26-1) on June 19.

He is likely headed to a rematch against Diaconu either later this year or early in 2010.

The 43-year-old Branco (59-10-2) had his right eye cut in the third round.

At the end of the fourth round, Pascal had Branco backed into the ropes and the Italian suddenly lurched forward and fell on his head, claiming he had been pulled down. Referee Gerry Bolen ruled it a slip but made an eight-count because Blanco appeared to be briefly shaken up.

Pascal was insistent after the bout that it was a knockdown.

In the seventh, Pascal complained of shots to the back of the head, then got warned for an obvious hold, but ended the round with a knockdown after a flurry of blows that his opponent's corner claimed was a push.

On the undercard, Montreal super middleweight Adonis Stevenson resumed his career with a fifth-round stoppage of Jermain Mackey. Stevenson had been out of action for 13 months due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

Source:
          CBC Sports

Boxing News: Manny Pacquiao manager passes away

MANILA - Manny Pacquiao’s former business manager Rod Nazario passed away on Thursday morning at the Perpetual Help of Rizal Hospital in Las Piñas City due to a lingering illness. He was 74.

Nazario, who handled Pacquiao's career while the boxer was just starting out, was diagnosed with lung cancer last year.

According to FightNews.com, Nazario had just celebrated his birthday last Sept. 12. Pacquiao dropped by the hospital over the weekend to wish him well.

Nazario was credited for helping Pacquiao break through the international scene by negotiating that the Filipino boxer be given the chance to fight in an undercard fight of an Oscar de la Hoya bout at the MGM Grand in June 2001.


SOURCE:
ABS-CBN NEWS
.

Boxing News Update Floyd Mayweather wins over Marquez Odds

Boxing Results Floyd Mayweather wins over Marquez Odds - Who is Floyd Mayweather going to hand pick next? Floyd Mayweather bored me with yet another hit and run fight... Marquez did not attack like he should and when he had the chance to fight the guy he shot once and waited around as if he was the quicker man. Floyd Mayweather Jr. successfully returned to the ring defeating a game Juan Manuel Marquez by unanimous decision. Check out the latest Boxing Odds.

"Marquez is tough as nails," Mayweather said. "He's a great little man. He was really hard to fight, and he kept taking some unbelievable shots."

Floyd Mayweather was just the physically bigger man and controlled the fight. Marquez was the aggressor but it was apparent early he wasn't going to hurt Mayweather. Check out the latest Boxing Odds. The highlight of the fight came in the second round when Mayweather hit Marquez with a shot that sent him to the canvas. As has been the case throughout his career, Juan Manuel beat the 10 count and continues on.

That was impressive for Floyd Mayweather. Marquez is not a Welter Weight and he looked like it didn't translate well going up but still Mayweather was impressive and I give him his props. He would have beaten Marquez anyways weight or not.

It's a jam packed schedule of boxing this fall and we'll have no shortage of fights to talk about. Up next will be the Klitschko-Arreola Heavyweight title fight next Saturday, September 26. Boxing Results Floyd Mayweather wins over Marquez Odds

"He's a great small man," Mayweather said. "Don't forget, I came from a small weight class too, so I know when you're in front of a great fighter. I think he brought his best tonight."



THE SOURCE:
SPORTS BOOK
.