“OPERATION MATCHBOX” GRAND JURY ISSUES MULTIPLE SUBPOENAS!

20 April, 2006 by Pedro Fernandez www.ringtalk.com

FEDERAL PROBE STILL SURROUNDS ARUM’S TOP RANK!

Las Vegas, NV-When the Federal Bureau of Investigation set up a “sting” operation in the office of boxing’s busiest promoter Bob Arum, they methodically gathered information that people within the Top Rank employ had committed a number of Felonies. This was before they raided Arum’s offices in January 2004, and took with them computers, files, and the “sink traps,” you see the Fed’s were looking for Cocaine related residue. I figured that in time this would lead to the indictment of Top Rank Vice President’s Todd du Beof, Arum’s sinus plagued stepson, as well as Bruce Trampler. The alleged crimes included, but were not limited to fight fixing, rigging medical tests, and fleecing fighters like “Yory Boy” Campas, out of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

THE GROUND RULES ACCORDING TO PEDRO!

Now before I go any further, I first want to say that if Dan Rafael of ESPN, if he or anybody else that has ridiculed my work on Operation Matchbox, that they had better not now have the balls to report on a story that was truly an “exclusive” of www.RingTalk.com. Some of you might wonder why I am stating such in an article, it’s because when I fingered Arum in the late-1990’s for his six-figure bribe of then IBF President Bob Lee, I got no credit. Not by USA Today, or any other news entity. Hell, the Newark Star Ledger's nefarious ex-scribe Chris Thorne, ran a story a year or so after I had and called it an “exclusive!” By the way, I then sued Arum for essentially trying to "blackball" me and won $10,000.

BOXERS TESTIFY WITH IMMUNITY IF THEY TELL TRUTH!

I have been able to confirm that Buck Smith and Marty Jakubowski, a pair of seasoned professional fighters have been ordered to appear here in early May. I have also been able to determine that several other individuals (see bigger fish) are said to have also been subpoenaed by the office of Las Vegas U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson. Both Buck and Marty have been involved in a number of prearranged matches and the like. Smith, who is listed at Box Rec at 178-16-2, with 132 KO’s, last fought in 2003 to wanna’ be boxer Jorge Kahwagi. Like Jakubowski, Smith will be granted full immunity, but only if he tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

DU BEOF, TRAMPLER, & TOP RANK ARE THE REAL TARGETS!

Although Bob Arum, an ex-United States Attorney himself, has not been implicated in any crimes, it is thought that Arum may have participated in a cover up, and that some people in the Top Rank offices presumably have lied to the FBI. As the Government builds its case, it has done so methodically, brick by brick. I was told originally, some of this by Federal sources, that the eventuality of this all is to bring Senor Arrogance (Bob Arum) to his corporate knees, and at the same time clean up boxing.

IS THE “HOUSE MANAGER” THE TOP RANK SNITCH?

In what is an obvious violation of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Act, manager Cameron Dunkin is at the Top Rank office everyday. A few years ago, when faced with this same issue, only then it was Scott Woodworth, Top Rank dismissed a noble man in Woodworth because his presence violated Federal law. In hindsight, if I were Arum and company, I would have hired experts to look long and hard at people within the Top Rank inner sanctum.

Pedro Fernandez

Note: Mr. Fernandez is an award-winning writer, a decorated ex-San Francisco Policeman, and four-time Golden Gloves champion. Comments regarding this article can be left below.

Boxing: I'll put on a Kelly show
Hard working Damaen fired up for title fight

By David Kelly Belfast, Ireland Telegraph

20 April 2006

Damaen Kelly has always been a reluctant hero.

As he prepares for his latest title fight tomorrow night in Andersonstown Leisure Centre, the Belfast man is well aware of the support that will flow his way but if victory is secured Kelly will not linger long the limelight. It's just not his way.

Though, an historic victory over European bantamweight champion Simone Maludrottu added to previous British, Commonwealth, European and IBO success would leave him as one of the most successful Irish champions in history.

"I've never been one for a lot of publicity. I just see it as a job to be done, concentrate on it and get it done," says Kelly, whose smooth boxing skills have often been undermined by periods of frustrating inactivity.

Coach Mickey Hawkins is adamant that such has been the rollercoaster ride for Kelly that "most other fighters would have packed it in".

There have been times during the 33-year-old's career when such thoughts have coursed through his head, most poignantly when he had a meagre six fights in four years.

"Yeah of course I thought about giving it up. Going to the gym every day, hearing about fights and then being told they're off - it just does your head in.

"But that's professional boxing and you have to live with it. I was set up last year for the world (flyweight) title fight with (Vic) Darchinyan and it fell through due to promotional problems just two weeks before the fight was to take place."

Kelly's preparation for Maludrottu has not exactly been ideal either but the harsh reality of boxing allied to that of keeping a family of three means he must work full-time at Montupet.

"I'm on shifts there, I do a three to eleven or an eleven to seven and then I get some sleep before going to the gym. I have to say that by the time Saturday comes I'm exhausted," says Kelly.

"Saturdays are the only time I get a full break from training and work and I sleep for a lot of it.

"Thankfully I was allowed to take two weeks holiday for this fight so I'll be ready to go and get the belt but although the work is hard I wish now, looking back, that I had stayed in full-time work because it would have helped me a lot.

"It wouldn't have helped financially but you just have to keep your mind right because sitting around with no fights is so hard."

Now Kelly has the opportunity to once again ignite his career and put himself back on the world stage with victory over rugged Italian making the fourth defence of his title.

"He's obviously a very tough and confident champion because he's prepared to come into my backyard and defend his title.

"A win would put me right back into the world title picture but in this business you just never know, you just never know what is around the corner so I'll just take this fight and see what happens next.

"Having the fight here is a big bonus for me and I will just give it everything and hopefully that is enough."

Jiminez has reeled off 13 wins in a row
Escobedo's biggest fight yet?

By GARY TRAYNHAM/Democrat Sports Editor

Woodland junior lightweight Vicente Escobedo anticipates his toughest professional fight on his return to Arco Arena at the Feather Falls Casino Fight Night on Friday.
He will face Daniel Jiminez of Puerto Rico, who is riding the crest of a 13-fight winning streak. The junior lightweight fight is scheduled for eight rounds, a distance beyond Escobedo's longest pro fight.
The match will start at 6 p.m., immediately followed by the IBA light welterweight 12-round championship bout matching Rogelio Castaneda (21-10-3, 7 KOs) of Sacramento and Craig Weber (21-1-2, 11 KOs). Both matches will be shown on delay on Telefutura (Channel 14).
Escobedo conceded he knows little about Jiminez but has seen him on tape.
"I know he's very good and has gone the distance against some very strong fighters. He comes to fight," Escobedo said. "As far as experience, he is one of the best I've fought. He's prepared; I'm prepared."
He is hyped to be back home. "I came here to do one thing, to win and put on a good show. I'm here to take care of business. I get adrenaline from the crowd. To me, it's who is prepared the best."
Escobedo stopped 33-year-old Jesus Perez of Miami on a sixth-round TKO in his last outing Jan. 27 in Tucson, Ariz. That marked the first time he went past the fourth round as a professional.
In his last Arco bout last Jan. 5, Escobedo stopped Venezuelan Jefferson Rodriguez in the second round.
Jiminez sees a matchup against a former Olympian as an excellent opportunity to move up into junior lightweight prominence.
Through interpreter Richard Novoa, Jiminez indicated this is the biggest fight of his career.
"This is a good steppingstone for me," Jiminez said.
He added that he is in good position and Friday is a big test.
Asked if he had ever seen Escobedo fight, he said he never looks at fighters on tape.
He started boxing in the streets when he was 8 years old.
"I love it. It's a good vehicle to earn money."
He is studying physical education at a university in San Juan.
After starting his pro career with a win and a draw, he has reeled off his win streak. His strongest opponent so far has been veteran Phillip Payne.
"He had a lot of experience and was real strong," Jiminez said.
He anticipates the same from Escobedo on Friday night.
The weigh-in is set for 5:30 p.m. today at the Hawthorn Suites, 321 Bercut Drive, in Sacramento.
Tickets, priced from $24 to $77, are available at the door or at all Ticketmaster outlets.
FRIDAY AT ARCO ARENA
Main Event - Rogelio Castaneda (21-10-1, 7 KOs), Sacramento, vs Craig Weber (21-1-2, 11 KOs), IBA light welterweight championship.
Semi-Main Event - Vicente Escobedo (9-0, 9 KOs), Woodland, vs. Daniel Jimenez (13-1-1, 8 KOs), Puerto Rico, 8 rounds.
Preliminaries - Ernesto Castaneda (8-4), Sacramento, vs. Otis Griffin (11-1-2, 5KOs), Sacramento, 6 rounds; Jose Castaneda (0-0), Sacramento, vs. Cornell Davis (0-0), Los Angeles, 4 rounds; heavyweights Hector Martinez (2-0) vs. William Jackson (0-0); super bantamweights, Danny Betances (1-2), Sacramento, vs. Enrique Quevede (2-1), Los Angeles.

Byrd in unfamiliar role Saturday as an underdog

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, April 21, 2006
By Dan Nilsen

Chris Byrd is used to giving up home turf, 30 pounds in weight, four inches in height and five years in age to a boxing opponent.

What's different about his Saturday night fight against Wladimir Klitschko are the odds.

For the first time since he became champion in December 2002, Byrd will be the underdog when he puts his IBF title on the line against Klitschko in a 12-round heavyweight bout in Mannheim, Germany. The fight will be broadcast by HBO between 5-6:30 p.m. EDT.

A betting person could win up to $250 on a $100 wager on Byrd, a considerable margin for a champion. But the Flint native and current Las Vegas resident

has faced long odds before, starting when he jumped to the heavyweight division after an Olympic career as a middleweight.

"I'm very confident in my ability, and I'm ready for the fight," Byrd said in a national conference call this week. "I want to show the world I'm the best in the division."

It's not the size difference that makes the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Klitschko the favorite. Byrd almost always is the smaller man in the ring.

But Klitschko (45-3, 40 knockouts) handed Byrd the worst beating of his professional career in October 2000, a lopsided 120-106, 119-107, 118-108 decision.

Byrd, whose face was severely swollen after the fight, has since claimed that Klitschko used a chemical substance on his gloves, a charge that got Byrd slapped with a gag order by a Berlin court this week.

Byrd (39-2-1, 20 knockouts) hasn't lost since, four times defending the title he won against Evander Holyfield on Dec. 14, 2002. He currently is the longest-reigning champion in the division.

"Chris Byrd is a much wiser man and a lot more experienced than five years ago," said Klitschko. "He is the best world champion."

Byrd had been reluctant to put his belt on the line in Germany. He was sued in December by promoter Don King, who claimed the boxer refused to participate in a bout against Klitschko's brother, Vitali, who has since retired.

But in a career filled with struggles to land big-name opponents, the 35-year-old champion agreed to meet Wladimir on the Ukrainian's home continent.

"To be a world champion, you fight wherever," Byrd said. "I feel like I get more credibility coming over to Germany to fight.

"Since I've been champion, I've always wanted to fight the top guys and really haven't been allowed to because of certain circumstances. So I'm very excited about this fight. I hope this sport is fair enough that we both get a fair shake."

Byrd also goes into the fight without a promoter, having severed ties with King. But that's been more a relief than a concern.

"It's been great," said Byrd, who is still trained by his father, Joe Byrd. "I had a great training camp without Don calling me and bothering me with certain things - you know, negotiations. I feel free. I'm not going to bash Don too much, but I'm a lot happier than I was."

Byrd spent Monday at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, signing autographs and visiting injured soldiers at the military hospital. Some of the troops will be among his few fans at the fight.

But popularity has never been a Byrd concern, either.

"It's a matter of performance," he said. "I know when I fought Vitali (in April 2000 in Berlin), they didn't accept me when I got in the ring. But after four or five rounds, they saw this little guy in there fighting hard, and they were cheering for both of us.

"If it was all one-sided, it still would not concern me. I block that out anyway. I just want to get in the ring and fight."

Dela Hoya- Mayorga Big Bout/ Tarver-Hopkins, Hatton

On Boxing with John Wolfshohl, Caller.com

As the temperature rises with the promise of another blistering South Texas summer, the pro boxing scene will be heating up as well in the coming months with no less than seven legitimate big fights and a bevy of other potentially entertaining matchups taking place in the next 90 days.

From this weekend through the end of July, at least five championships are scheduled to be on the line, and in a few cases, careers will be on the line as well.

Byrd vs. Klitschko opens action

The action kicks off this weekend in a battle of heavyweights when Wladimir Klitschko tries to wrest the IBF title from Chris Byrd in a rematch of their 2000 tilt that saw Klitschko seize a lopsided unanimous decision. While any bout featuring the defensive-minded Byrd has the potential to be a snoozer, the winner of this fight could set a course toward unifying the heavyweight title, which would restore some much-needed credibility to the division. And, the bout is on regular HBO, so fans with the premium channel won't have to shell out any extra coin to the see the match, which is always a relief.

The calendar for the next few weeks is dotted with matches that should garner fight fans interest, including hard-hitting heavyweight Sam Peter continuing his climb back to contender status when he faces Julius Long on April 28. The following day former phenom Brazilian Acelino Freitas is back in the ring for the first time in almost a year when he takes on slick punching former U.S Olympian Zahir Raheem. If Freitas wants to get his career back on track, he'll need to score a win over a man who upset Mexican legend Erik Morales in his previous fight.

Perhaps the biggest bout of the summer, and the one guaranteed to generate the most media attention, will come a week later when Oscar De La Hoya steps into the ring for the first time in more than a year to face Nicaraguan wildman Ricardo Mayorga on May 6.

This matchup is interesting for several reasons. First, how rusty will De La Hoya be? And, how much time will he have to get acclimated to the ring facing Mayorga, a free swinger who promises to press the action from the opening bell?

Secondly, will the highly-personal trash talk Mayorga has been spewing at De La Hoya bring out a dark side of the "Golden Boy" we haven't seen before? De La Hoya says he dislikes Mayorga more than anyone he's ever fought and it seems like more than hype, given the acrimonious nature of the press conferences leading up to the fight.

If De La Hoya's skills haven't eroded too much in his layoff, we may see a punitive beating like the one he gave Fernando Vargas in 2002. If the rust on De La Hoya is too thick, we may witness the swan song of one of the best fighters of the past decade.

Later in May we'll see British punch machine Ricky Hatton begin his American campaign when he tries to snare a portion of the welterweight title from sacrificial lamb Luis Collazo. If Hatton impresses, it could lead to a much-anticipated fight later this year or in early 2007 with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

On May 20, Houston's Rocky Juarez faces the biggest challenge of his career so far when he steps up in weight to face future Hall-of-Famer Marco Antonio Barrera for the WBC super featherweight title. The consensus among experts is Juarez will be in over his head against the veteran champ Barrera, but Barrera has been in plenty of wars and that river of skills and guts has to run dry sometime. Either way, the collision of a game Juarez and the always-ready-to-battle Barrera should make for an entertaining fight.

Two weeks late, on June 10, boxing junkies will have to make a decision on where to spend their pay-per-view dollar.

That night Bernard Hopkins will step into the ring for the final time (supposedly) as he steps up in weight to face unofficial light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver in Atlantic City.

Even at the advanced age of 41, Hopkins is the more skilled fighter but will he be able wit withstand the punches of the naturally bigger Tarver?

Up the road at Madison Square Garden in New York that same night, Puerto Rican superstar-in-the-making Miguel Cotto will take on undefeated Brooklyn fighter Paulie Malignaggi in a junior welterweight bout. This pay-per-view also features a solid undercard with junior lightweights Kevin Kelly and Bobby "Yes, I'm Manny's bother" Pacquiao squaring off, as well as a match showcasing up-and-coming middleweight slugger John Duddy.

While Hopkins-Tarver may be the single most compelling bout of the night, the Cotto-Malignaggi card features the most bang for your buck.

Seven days later the middleweight championship is up for grabs when champion Jermain Taylor takes on master craftsman Winky Wright. Don't look for a lot of fireworks in this one as Wright could climb into a basket of rabid monkeys and somehow make it a boring a fight. However, if you enjoy technical boxing at its finest, this is one to watch.

The first half of summer is capped off almost a month later when Shane Mosley faces Fernando Vargas on July 15 in a rematch of their February bout that Mosley won via 10th round stoppage. Their first match was an entertaining squabble and the second promises more of the same.

While those are the highlights, keep your eyes on the boxing schedule in the coming months. There are plenty of other smaller fights going on this summer that'll give you reason enough to flee the heat and head to your couch or the nearest sports bar and enjoy the air conditioning with a good night of fights.

Taylor move raises questions

By Harry King, arkansasnews.com

LITTLE ROCK - Adding Emanuel Steward to Jermain Taylor's team doesn't have that immediate comfort fit of a favorite golf shirt.

Expanding the number of Taylor teachers is more of a scratchy, too-much-starch sort of thing, one that will take some wearing to get just right.

Reservations about Steward and Pat Burns dividing the tutelage stem from a sit-down with cut man Ray Rodgers months ago, a proverb of unknown origin and a moment in Memphis.

Rodgers, who works for Taylor and many of the best fighters, said in an interview that he doesn't talk while on the job. "If you see a corner where everybody is chattering, the corner is out of control," he said last fall.

So, what happens on June 17 in Memphis when Taylor defends his middleweight championship against Winky Wright and both Steward and Burns have advice to offer? Burns has been identified as the lead cornerman, whatever that means.

Steward and Oscar Suarez shared the training of heavyweight Naseem Hamed and, during a fight, the two trainers took turns getting into the ring with Hamed.

That brings us to the adage, "Too many cooks spoil the broth."

At times, it must have been that way in Fayetteville - head coach Houston Nutt listening to both offensive line coach Mike Markuson and quarterbacks coach Roy Wittke while trying to decide what to call on third-and-3.

There may be some of that this fall with the Razorbacks, but eventually new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will have Nutt's ear more readily than other assistants.

Too classy to air any complaints in public about sharing with Steward, Burns took the PR path, telling ESPN, "If this is what it takes to beat Winky Wright, then that is what you have to do."

Burns has been Taylor's trainer since he turned pro in 2001. With the Miami-based Burns in control, Taylor is middleweight champion and unbeaten in 25 fights. Burns will never pull back his stinger and advice is a one-way street between trainer-fighter.

His my-way or no-way is something Taylor needs at times, but he can let the leash hang loose.

The various sides of Burns and the quality of their working relationship was evident last year when Taylor was preparing to spar with Elvis during a promotion-work session at a gym near the Liberty Bowl. While taping Taylor's hands, Burns broke up serious seconds with his fighter, telling him, "When a fighter is coming up, you always try to put him with a dead man."

A "work time" from Burns and Taylor was back in gear.

Once Burns moved onto the scene, Ozell Nelson played second fiddle in Taylor's fight preparation. Taylor's coach during his spectacular amateur career, Nelson has been very involved with Taylor for about half of the fighter's life, welcoming him to the gym when Taylor was 13, and traveling with him to national tournaments.

There was word of some carping after Bernard Hopkins' fast finish in the first Taylor-Hopkins fight, Nelson contending Burns had over-trained Taylor. When Taylor topped the scales at more than 180 pounds, Burns had no choice but to schedule a long training camp to make certain that Taylor would be ready for Hopkins at 160 pounds.

For the rematch, the training camp was shorter because Taylor kept his weight around 170.

Despite that, Hopkins finished better than Taylor and, at least part of the fight flow reflected Hopkins' approach.

Hopefully, Nelson didn't put Taylor in the middle, forcing the fighter to choose between his longtime friend and his trainer.

There is no doubt about Steward's credentials, including his work with a long list of champions and his operation of the renowned Kronk Gym in Detroit. But the Taylor-Burns team is unbeaten.

It is in Detroit that Taylor will begin preparations May 1 for the fight with Wright. If Taylor wins and follows up with another victory or two, the addition of Steward will be little more than a footnote. If not, Nelson will be on the hot seat.

Extra rest helpful for Corrales

Robert Morales-S. Gabriel Valley Tribune

When Diego Corrales announced last January that he had suffered a rib injury that would prevent him from fighting Jose Luis Castillo a third time on Feb. 4, the legitimacy of the injury seemed questionable.

After all, it was only last October that Corrales suffered a devastating fourth-round knockout at the hands of Castillo in their second fight. And that came just five months after Corrales stopped Castillo in the 10th round in May in their first fight, which many have said was one of the greatest in recent times.

Yes, Corrales won that one, but most believe he took more punishment, especially to the head, even in victory.

Now we will never get Corrales, nor his trainer Joe Goossen, to ever admit that the rib injury in January was faked to allow for a longer recovery. They could never cop to that. But Goossen did say something last week that may have been a hint in that direction.

Goossen, Corrales, Castillo and all other interested parties were present at the Beverly Hills Hotel to again announce their third fight. This one is scheduled for June 3 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, site of their second fight.

Corrales' World Boxing Council lightweight belt will be on the line.

"Diego got the rest, I believe, that was necessary to go into this third fight against this great fighter," Goossen, of Van Nuys, said. "He is well-rested, and that is going to make the difference in the action for the fight."

There has been no lack of controversy in this series. Corrales spit out his mouthpiece twice after suffering two knockdowns in the 10th round of the first fight. The added time he received to have his mouthpiece re-inserted surely helped him to recover more than enough to stop Castillo later in the round in one gutsy comeback.

Perhaps looking for some sneaky revenge, Castillo didn't make the 135-pound lightweight limit for their second fight. Some say he did that on purpose. When Corrales was viciously knocked out with a left hook in the fourth, the Corrales camp cried foul.

Corrales' promoter, Gary Shaw, and Goossen said that while their fighter had done everything it took to get down to 135 - weakening himself - Castillo was much stronger on fight night because he didn't have to sweat out the last 3 pounds. He had weighed in at 138.

Regardless of what anybody believes about all this, one thing is certain: There has been no shortage of courage and drama. Castillo, of Mexicali, Mexico, said he can only hope that nothing changes in that regard. In his mind, it would be a shame to complete this trilogy with anything less.

"There have been rumors that Diego is probably going to go out and box," Castillo said. "We will be prepared for that, but I just wish that he comes and fights like he did in the first and second one to give the public another great fight.

"He is a great fighter, a great warrior and I just hope they don't change his style; that way it can be a sensational fight. I just hope Mr. Goossen doesn't change his style."

Corrales, during a short stint on the dais, promised Castillo that, like the first two fights, he is preparing for nothing less than another toe-to-toe match.

"June 3 will be the last time you will see the two of us in the ring together," Corrales said. "We are going to finish

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off this trilogy once and for all."

Then, looking at Castillo, Corrales said, "You won't have to look for me. I'll be right there."

Castillo, 32, is 54-7-1 with 47 knockouts. Corrales, 28, of Las Vegas via Sacramento, is 40-3 with 33 knockouts. The card is being co-promoted by Top Rank Inc. and Gary Shaw Productions.

Excuse us if we don't get too excited about Saturday's heavyweight title fight between Chris Byrd, the International Boxing Federation champion, and Wladimir Klitschko.

The two do have a history, but that is about the only thing that gives this fight any flavor at all. Byrd is a slap-hitter who never goes toe-to-toe and consequently rarely knocks out anyone, and Klitschko has been an inconsistent fighter the past three years.

Klitschko is 5-2 during that time, but he was knocked out in the two losses in the second and fifth rounds to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster, respectively.

To his credit, Klitschko, in his most recent fight, did win a decision over previously unbeaten Samuel Peter.

Klitschko took the World Boxing Organization version of the championship from Byrd with a one-sided unanimous decision Oct. 14, 2000. That was six-plus months after Byrd won the belt from Wladimir's brother, Vitali, when Vitali sustained a shoulder injury and quit in the ninth round of a fight he was winning handily over Byrd.

This fight, from Mannheim, Germany, will be televised by HBO.

Realistically, don't expect a lot of hard-hitting action.

Byrd, 35, of Flint, Mich., is 39-2-1 with 20 knockouts. He has stopped only one of his past 10 opponents - some brute named Jeff Pegues in June 2002.

Klitschko, 30, lives in Germany. He is 45-3 with 40 knockouts.

Rocky Juarez, who will challenge Marco Antonio Barrera, a Mexican legend at 32, on May 20 at Staples Center for the WBC super featherweight title, appeared supremely confident at a news conference last week.

"Trying to visualize how I'm going to feel in the future, a week before the fight, I think I am going to just be pumped," said Juarez, of Houston, Texas, who won a silver medal for Team USA in the 2000 Olympics. "I've been sparring 10 rounds, I've been sparring 12 rounds. I wake up every day being motivated to go to the gym, go running, and that is something that I haven't felt in none of my professional fights.

"I guess that is because of the fact of who I'm fighting, and I never doubted my talent, my potential and my heart, stepping into the ring against any fighter. I got this good feeling in me. There are no butterflies."

Executioner entrusts body to Shilstone's care

By Bernard Fernandez
Special to CBS SportsLine.com

Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry is said to have such a keen shooting eye that he could detect even the slightest variance to the target. Once, upon entering a visiting arena with his San Francisco Warriors, Barry took a look at the basket and said, "It looks a little low." A tape measure was produced and, sure enough, the rim was an eighth of an inch below specifications.

When it comes to an innate knowledge of his own body, it might be said that former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins is Barryesque. It's not that he's studied human physiology and kinesiology; he just knows.

So when Hopkins hired renowned physical conditioning guru Mackie Shilstone to help him bulk up for his June 10 bout with IBO light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, it was not unlike the recent collaboration of Don King and Bob Arum to hype the Zab Judah-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout. Hopkins, like King, is a street-smart guy who relies on his own best judgment; Shilstone, like Arum, is the guy with the formal training and wall full of framed degrees.

"He has a way of doing things and, obviously, it's been very successful," Shilstone said of Hopkins' methods for keeping fit. "I did it through learning. He does it instinctively."

If it were only a matter of instinct, the 41-year-old Hopkins likely would not have brought in Shilstone and John David Jackson (a left-handed, two-time former world champion who is an expert at helping orthodox fighters prepare for southpaws) for what he insists will be his final training camp.

Hopkins has been making the 160-pound middleweight limit for years with no difficulty, so to do so again would not require augmentation of his support crew. But he is doing what he always said he would do, which is to make his final ring appearance as a light heavyweight, and if there's anyone who knows about the correct way to put pounds of muscle onto a fighter -– or to take pounds of flab off -– it's Shilstone.

The trim little guy from New Orleans once was hailed as one of the 50 most influential figures in boxing history for his historic transformation of Michael Spinks, who on Sept. 21, 1985, became the first light heavyweight champion ever to win the heavyweight crown when he upset long-reigning titlist Larry Holmes on a unanimous, 15-round decision.

Shilstone never claimed to be an expert on boxing, but he knows the inner workings of the human body as few ever have. It was his job to reconfigure Spinks from a spindly 175-pounder into a rock-solid 210-pounder, which he accomplished so successfully that it launched a revolution in boxing that continues to this day.

"Mackie has worked with many fighters -– fighters who made history when he worked with them," said Hopkins, whose publicist, Kelly Swanson, a former flack for another Shilstone client, Riddick Bowe, brought the two together.

"I could be 200 pounds if I chose to do that. Putting on weight ain't that difficult to do. You just have to eat a lot. This is not about being 175 pounds or whatever. It is about being strong at whatever weight you're fighting at. And I will be. Mackie has a reputation for putting what I need in my body the safe way, the legal way, the right way. With Mackie's help, I will not only be bigger, but better."

And the cost to Hopkins for temporarily volunteering his body for another of Shilstone's lab experiments?

"Let me tell you," Hopkins says with a smile, "Mackie don't come cheap."

Nor does he come to you. Those fighters who seek Shilstone's services do so with the understanding that at least a part of their training camp must be conducted in New Orleans. That wasn't much of a problem when New Orleans was, well, New Orleans, a unique American city known for its fine (and fattening) cuisine. Maybe Shilstone wanted to see for himself if his clients had the mental discipline to subject themselves to his rigors while simultaneously resisting such local delicacies as beignets, crawfish etouffee and crème brulee.

But Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans a rotting shell of its former splendor. So why hasn't Shilstone moved his base of operations? He said it's because he's as loyal to his hometown as he wants his clients to be dedicated to the torturous programs he individually tailors for them.

Hopkins' willingness to shift part of his training to New Orleans, Shilstone said, was part of the reason why he agreed to take him on. "I don't work with just anybody," Shilstone noted. "But Bernard was so sincere about wanting to do this the right way, I couldn't help but be won over.

"He told me, 'This is the last fight I'll ever do and I want to make it something special.' What a way to end a career –- on a positive of an upset win. Look, not many people are going to pick him to beat Tarver. That's what hooked me. I know what it's like to work with people who aren't as committed to the end result as I am."

That might or might not be interpreted as a swipe at Bowe, whose alarming tendency to pack on pounds of flab in between bouts brought him to Shilstone. And, for a time, the two-time former heavyweight champion adhered to Shilstone's dictums. But once a bout was completed, Bowe invariably yielded to his appetite and fell off the health-food wagon. It wasn't unusual for Shilstone to bring "Big Daddy" down from 272 jiggly pounds to a flat-bellied 235.

During one of his intermittent fitness kicks, Bowe not only employed Shilstone, but comedian-turned-nutritionist Dick Gregory, who had the fighter gulping down as many as 100 vitamin pills a day.

"I told Riddick there's nothing I can do to help improve his boxing skills, but maybe we can lift the hood and overhaul the engine," Gregory said while a member of Team Bowe. "A lot of athletes think you can get all the carbohydrates they need from pasta, but the best carbohydrates are from raw, uncooked fruit. That's where you get maximum nutritional value. If you fed pasta to a gorilla or a rhinoceros or an elephant, they'd probably end up dead."

Gregory, like Shilstone, floated in and out of Bowe's career as a potential all-time great often found it more difficult to fight pangs of hunger than his opponents.

For Bowe's first fight with Evander Holyfield, Shilstone devised perhaps his most creative program ever for a fighter. "The thing I wanted to try with Riddick was heart-rate telemetry," Shilstone said at the time. "It's a technology that's never been applied to boxing before. The idea is to push Riddick to a point of (physical) failure, monitor the results and determine the target training zone ... a program that will prevent him from undertraining or overtraining."

Did it work? Well, Bowe outworked Holyfield, himself a conditioning buff, down the stretch to capture the heavyweight title for the first time.

Shilstone generally has fond memories of Bowe, at least the Bowe who was focused enough to stay on the straight and narrow. There was a particular day -– May 9, 1995 -- that stands out in the memory of Rock Newman, Bowe's longtime manager. The skies had opened up in New Orleans, flooding the city with what one meteorologist described as a "once in 500 years" rainstorm. An incredible 18.6 inches of rain was recorded over a six-hour span at New Orleans International Airport.

"I wish someone could have taken a picture of Bowe walking a half-mile up West Esplanade Avenue in knee-deep water to Muss Bertolino Playground so he could do his roadwork," Newman said. "They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this picture would have been worth 10 million words."

Dismissed by Bowe, Shilstone later was brought back to find a picture worth another 10 million words, or at least 10 million calories. Shilstone popped in at Bowe's rented apartment, went to the kitchen and discovered, to his horror, a refrigerator full of "lard and chicken."

Given his druthers, Shilstone finds it easier to add muscle weight onto athletes who are already in shape rather than to take it off sloppy ones who are addicted to Twinkies and French fries. In addition to Spinks, he helped Roy Jones Jr. gain 24 chiseled pounds in preparation for his winning challenge against WBA heavyweight titlist John Ruiz.

What about steroids?

"Obviously, they work," Shilstone says of the short-term benefits of juicing. "But there's enough science now to achieve the same thing without resorting to steroids.

"When an athlete comes to me, I put him in a CT-scan. I can determine how much fat he has in his body down to a single gram. I have a book coming out in January, Lean and Hard: The Body You've Always Wanted in 24 Workouts. It goes back to a study I did when I was at LSU. We had 20 people that we put on a program I did with diet supplements and training. We did extensive medical screening like you wouldn't believe -– pre- and post-physiology on their aerobic thresholds.

"We were able to put 10 pounds of muscle on them in 24 workouts while losing 4.82 pounds of fat."

In no small part due to Shilstone's work with Spinks, other fighters began hiring non-traditional types to gain them an edge. Holyfield, an inveterate tinkerer, at various times worked with a physical conditioning coach (Tim Hallmark), strength coach (bodybuilder Chasee Jordan), flexibility coach (gymnastics instructor Marya Kennett) and computer analysts (Logan Hobson and Bob Cannobio). Bowe also took a flier on a South Korean massage therapist, Daeisak Seo, for a bout against Jesse Ferguson.

All the top guys in the field are aware of one another, which is why Shilstone raised an eyebrow when Mike Tyson's co-managers at the time, Rory Hollyway and John Horne, hired an unknown commodity, Carlos Blackwell, in 1995. Blackwell said he had a "five-stage program" that would improve Tyson's fitness to near-superhuman levels, but he declined to specify what was involved in any of the stages, or to release the names of the other famous athletes he claimed had benefited from his services.

"I know of Tim Hallmark," Shilstone said. "I know of Pat Croce. I know most of the more accomplished conditioning coaches. We don't live in a vacuum, nor does anyone else. None of the top guys are going to hide their light under a basket. If I work with professional athletes, I'm going to want to get that information out."

Maybe Carlos Blackwell is out there, performing wonders out of the spotlight. More than likely, not. What we do know is that Shilstone still is the pioneer, the trendsetter, the legend the big names come to when they need a non-pharmaceutical physical metamorphosis.

"Mackie is not going to tell me what to eat and not to eat," Hopkins said. "I think he knows that's not going to be a problem with me. When I met him for the first time in New Orleans, he didn't talk bad about other fighters. But he did say there had been fighters he'd worked with that he had to detox them from the food."

Argentine Boxing Great Says He's Back From The Dead

By Sebastián Contursi
ESPNdeportes.com En Espanol

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Few can resist the thrill of seeing him inside the ring again. After all, as he himself declares: "I'm the man who came back from the dead."

Jorge "Locomotora" Castro, 38, is not only the best Argentine boxer of the last decade, but he is also a showman who excels in the world of boxing.

S. Contursi/ESPNDeportes.com

After suffering multiple wounds from a June 17, 2005, car accident, Jorge Castro was hospitalized in Buenos Aires for 30 days, which included being in a coma.

Bad behavior aside -- which of course makes him more fascinating -- his skill with the gloves and his eccentricities outside the ring have transformed him into a living legend, loved by Argentines and respected worldwide.

It's well known that on June 17, 2005, only three weeks after winning a WBA eliminatory bout in Luna Park, and after signing a contract with Don King, Castro was injured in a terrible car accident.

Suffering pulmonary wounds and various fractures, "Roña" was kept in Cosme Argerich Hospital in Buenos Aires for 30 days, 20 of which he has no recollection of.

The injuries listed in the official medical report include a severe trauma in the left lung producing a large amount of swelling, the fracture of a rib on the right side that punctured his right lung, and fractures to the pelvis, right shoulder blade, and right thigh bone.

"I only remember my first two days at the hospital," he said. "I was in a lot of pain but I was conscious. They later induced a coma in order to let me breathe through an artificial respirator. When I woke up, I didn't understand what was going on because I didn't remember what had happened."

What Castro can't remember -- although people later reminded him -- is the unconditional support he received from his fans, who covered his front door with flags, expressing support and wishing him a speedy recovery.

"I've kept all those mementos, and I'm really grateful to my fans. I knew I was popular, but I never imagined how much," he told ESPNdeportes.com.

The truth is that Castro's physical strength, combined with the great medical teamwork led by professor Jorge Arata, performed the miracle.

Sitting in a wheelchair on July 17, 2005, Castro went to his home in Morón, a house he had bought with part of the money given to him for the fight against American Derrick Harmon, whom Castro had knocked out in seven rounds May 26 at the "WBA -- KO Against Drugs" Festival, becoming the WBA's mandatory light-heavyweight contender.

The day after the accident, this journalist reached Castro and spoke with him. Although he could barely breathe, he said things I will never forget.

"I screwed up, huh?" was the first thing he said as soon as he saw us, just like a kid admitting he made a mistake.

Nonetheless, the naughty boy inside Castro soon appeared. "I will fight [WBA light heavyweight champion Fabrice] Tiozzo in about three months," he said defiantly.

Born Again

Time has passed and Castro is the same as always. The confirmed joker. The irresponsible one. The insanely brave man. The idol. An incomplete physical rehabilitation is now in the past. Castro remembers his first days after returning home.

"Along came Dr. Walter Quintero and we had kinesiology sessions," he said. "And the press wouldn't stop looking for me. But for the rest of the day I was really bored, I could barely move."

S. Contursi/ESPNDeportes.com

Belen (right) has been the foundation behind her husband's recovery.

Nonetheless, that situation didn't last for long. Soon began the strolls around the neighborhood, in a wheelchair pushed by his wife Belen, a fundamental cornerstone in Castro's recovery.

"Belen has been great to me," Castro said proudly. "I've had a thousand women in my life. That's the reason I have 14 sons [laughs], but no other woman has been like Belen. She showed she really loves me."

But his wife's unconditional love has not always been enough to stop Castro's desire to fool around.

In fact, after weeks of kinesiology sessions, weight lifting, and even some swimming sessions, Castro momentarily abandoned rehabilitation around November 2005.

By then, his intention of returning to boxing seemed to have faded, and he even considered hanging up his gloves, which in the past would have been unthinkable.

"I'm not a kid anymore," he had said. "That's why everything's harder now. We're going to see if I can return to boxing, I haven't decided yet. But if I have to retire, I will. I don't want to be one of those guys people feel sorry for. I'll have to dedicate myself to something else."

But as all great characters are full of contradictions, he soon changed his mind.

"I'm training to box again," he said. "I'd like my first fight to be at Luna Park, in a really big event."

The comeback began taking form in March, although there was a big obstacle: The Argentine Boxing Federation had to renew his license.

For that to happen, he had to pass some strict medical exams.

"Castro is ready to go back to boxing after passing a serious exam by the ABF Medical Tribunal, headed by Dr. Hugo Rodriguez Papini," ABF president Osvaldo Bisbal said.

With his renewed license in hand, there still are some doubts concerning Castro's physical condition.

After all, it's a miracle he's still alive, according to the doctors who looked after him last year.

But Castro knows no fear when it's time to confront another boxer inside the ring.

Ramón Cairo

Castro, 38, is training for an improbable but valiant comeback bout Saturday.

Having had the glory of becoming a world champion (WBA middleweight, 1994-95) and compiling a record of 129-10-3 with 89 KOs, he fought warriors such as Roy Jones Jr., Terry Norris, Reggie Johnson, John David Jackson, Juan Carlos Gomez, and Vasily Jirov, among others.

At 38, Castro's return to the ring on Saturday will be anything but easy. He'll confront Colombian Jose Luis Herrera, who does not have the same experience as Castro but owns a formidable 13-1 record, with all of the wins by knockout (including two in Argentina).

"Say 'Hi' to the man who came back from the dead. I died, went to heaven, but Saint Peter had the door locked with a double chain," were Castro's first words at the press conference in which he officially announced his comeback.

"The truth is, I don't know how I managed to survive. I couldn't stand seeing myself lying in bed, I had to get on my feet. Now I will surprise everyone who thought me dead," said Castro, who will be making his third appearance in the South American boxing temple.

Already in a boxing session in the WBA gym, Castro trains the left hook that'll stop his rival.

He saves his right as much as he can, but it sure causes damage when it is unleashed. Training is over for the day.

The man who is capable of blending with the Boca Juniors "barra brava" and visiting President Nestor Kirchner the next day, has proven the skeptics wrong.

All the rest is just secondary.

Buenos Aires-based Sebastián Contursi is ESPNdeportes.com's boxing analyst. He has covered more than 80 championship fights for various publications in the United States and Argentina.

The Real Cintron Returns, Defeats Estrada

Associated Press

WEST PALM, Fla. -- Kermit Cintron stopped David Estrada at 1:13 of the 10th round to win their IBF welterweight elimination title bout on Wednesday night.

After trading brutal punches with Estrada for nine rounds, Cintron opened the 10th with a left-right combination that knocked Estrada down. After Estrada got up at the count of eight, Cintron quickly forced Estrada against the ropes, forcing the referee to stop the bout that was scheduled for 12 rounds.

With the win, Cintron is now the No. 2 contender, increasing his chances of facing Floyd Mayweather, Antonio Margarito, Sugar Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya or Fernando Vargas for championship implications.

"I thought I was going to catch him earlier in the sixth or seventh round, but I finally caught him with the perfect shot," said Cintron, of Reading, Pa. "It was a hell of a fight, I give him credit. This was one of my best fights to date."

Estrada (18-3), who trains in Pembroke Pines, was hoping to regain his No. 2 spot in the WBC rankings after losing to Mosley last year.

He came out the aggressor, often ducking under Cintron's jabs and getting inside. After the first two even rounds, he hurt Cintron with an uppercut, opening a gash above his right eye in the third.

After Estrada put Cintron on the ropes early in the fourth, Cintron came back effectively, landing jabs and winning the round with counterpunches.

Cintron seemed to gain his confidence by the fifth round; he nearly ended the battle in the sixth when he unleashed a flurry of punches to Estrada's head, forcing Estrada to hold on until the bell ended.

"I was trying to set him up with the body and use my jab," Cintron added.

Though Cintron came out in the seventh hoping to end it, Estrada slipped under a wild right and landed an uppercut to Cintron's mouth that opened another small cut.

The eighth and ninth rounds appeared even, though both boxers appeared to be tiring somewhat. Cintron came out quickly in the 10th, however, belting Estrada with some good combinations before knocking him down.

"I watched the films of my fight last year with Margarito," Cintron said of his only loss. "That wasn't me out there. I was there physically but not mentally. I had a lot of things going on in my personal life. I'm back now. I got a brand new team and I'm focused. You could see it tonight."

Estrada was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures after the bout, mainly to treat dehydration.

'Broadway Boxing' on move

New York Daily News

Promoter Lou DiBella is New York through and through. So it was natural that when he launched his monthly "Broadway Boxing" series, which features boxers from all five boroughs, he went with Madison Square Garden Network as a broadcast partner.

After two years, DiBella is switching broadcast partners and moving the show to SportsNet New York, which airs "Daily News Live." To DiBella the switch was a no-brainer.

"They paid more attention to the strong ratings on MSG than MSG did," DiBella said yesterday. "I'd like to thank MSG for their support, but I had to do what was best for DiBella Entertainment and my boxers. I just think the show is more important to SportsNet New York than it was to my former broadcast partner."

One of the benefits of moving to SNY is that the series will get a regular time slot.

"We get Sunday night in prime time," DiBella said. "And it will be the second Sunday after each card. I have nothing but respect and gratitude for the people at MSG, but they never offered me that kind of programming certainty."

The one-year deal will kick off with the best show ever to come out of the "Broadway Boxing" series. Silence Mabuza (18-1, 15 KOs) of South Africa will meet Ricardo Vargas (39-11-3, 13KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, in an IBF bantamweight eliminator. Curtis Stevens (11-0, 10 KOs), a super middleweight KO specialist from Brownsville, will face his toughest challenge yet against Carl Daniels (49-7-1, 31 KOs) in the co-feature. The show will take place tomorrow night at the Manhattan Center and will be broadcast on SNY on April 30.

DO-OVER? The IBF has ordered a rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Zab Judah because of the controversy surrounding the 10th round of their match in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Mayweather, though, may not take the order. Mayweather is already weighing an $8million offer to fight WBO welterweight champ Antonio Margarito on Aug. 12.

The IBF welterweight belt was tarnished before the match because Judah retained it even though he lost to Carlos Baldomir on Jan. 7. Baldomir didn't get the belt because he didn't pay the sanctioning fee. But the organization didn't vacate it and decided to give it back to Judah instead.

Belts have never meant much to Mayweather, regarded almost universally as pound-for-pound the best in boxing. He doesn't really have anything to prove in a rematch with Judah. So it's hard to imagine that he would have any desire to fight a rematch with Judah based on the dictates of the IBF.

Either way, the IBF has given Mayweather five days to respond to its order. The IBF shouldn't be surprised if Mayweather, already the best welterweight in the game, doesn't call.

NEW STEWARD-SHIP: Middleweight champ Jermain Taylor will have legendary trainer Emanuel Steward in his corner when he takes on Winky Wright in Memphis on June 17. Taylor added Steward to his corner earlier this week and will head to Detroit to begin training with Steward at the famed Kronk Gym. No disrespect to Pat Burns, Taylor's trainer since his amateur days, but Steward is the perfect choice to polish one of the sport's most gifted boxers....Saturday's IBF heavyweight championship rematch between Chris Byrd and Wladimir Klitschko from Mannheim, Germany, will be broadcast live on HBO at 5 p.m. (tape delay at 10 p.m.).

Former '05 ESPN PPV headliners ready to square off

By Joe Tessitore
Special to ESPN.com

I wish Bill Raftery could broadcast one David Estrada fight with me. If ever there was a need for Raftery to use his signature descriptive of an athlete having "onions," it's when Estrada fights. Make that even when Estrada talks. This David acts more like a Goliath.

David Estrada

Estrada

"It's in my blood. All the men in my family have earned their respect and have lots of pride," Estrada told me.

This week, the iron-chinned welterweight, who has never seen a brawl he didn't like or join, meets up with a heavy-handed opponent who has never seen a chin he didn't test. The Miami-based, Chicago-bred Estrada takes on Kermit Cintron in the main event of "Wednesday Night Fights" (ESPN2, 10 ET).

When last we left them, these 20-something contenders were the co-stars on ESPN pay-per-view at Caesars Palace in Vegas on April 23, 2005. Estrada went toe-to-toe with three-time world champion Sugar Shane Mosley. Estrada lost a decision but gained a lot of street cred.

Going into that April card, Cintron was the highly hyped, unbeaten knockout artist. He was simply annihilated by welterweight belt holder Antonio Margarito.

"I know for a fact that I have never had my ass beaten down. Cintron can't say that. Margarito did it to him," Estrada said. "I asked Cintron at the press conference if he was going to stand up like a man and fight me, or would he run away?"

It's not Cintron's style to run away. Thus, the outcome we saw versus Margarito. Truth is, most welterweights wouldn't last with Margarito. He is as much of a destructive force as anybody in the game. As we saw during the buildup to that career-defining moment, Kermit can bang. He better be banging on Wednesday night. Estrada doesn't go away.

"I've been through bad car accidents. If a car hitting another car can't knock me out, how can a man my own size? I've been jumped in gang fights by six or seven guys. If a group can't beat me down, how can one boxer?" Estrada said.

Estrada took the past year off after his solid showing against Sugar Shane. Estrada could have fought for midlevel money, but he passed. He waited for another big fight against an established name. That's what he now has on Wednesday night.

Two of the four headliners of last April's ESPN pay-per-view card are now meeting up against each other. The winner will be back in title contention. The IBF is calling this an eliminator for a mandatory challenge. Now I don't trust the IBF as far as I could throw the stack of FBI files on them, but I do know that the winner of this fight would be an attractive match for whoever is champ at that time.

For Cintron, this win would get him back on the path that seemed to be so clearly laid out. Margarito was too much too soon. Some fighters are just better after they get that first loss out of their system. Some guys never are the same.

AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta

Last April, Kermit Cintron (left) got slammed by Antonio Margarito, who scored a fifth-round TKO in a WBO welterweight title defense in Las Vegas.

For Estrada, a win would confirm what many boxing insiders feel about him. He is a tough guy with enough skill, and more than enough will, to be in against anybody.

Estrada said, "If I had an 11th and 12th round against Sugar Shane, it would have been different. That's all I kept thinking about after that fight. I always explode in the 11th and 12th."

For the record, this is a 12-round fight on Wednesday. It's an advantage Estrada feels very good about.

"Every time I came after Shane in the later rounds I would hear him take a deep breath," he said. "It was like he was saying, 'Oh crap, here he comes again.' I don't go away."

No, he doesn't go away. That may just be the key to this fight. What will Cintron do when his big-punch power doesn't faze Estrada? What will the man nicknamed "The Killer" do when he isn't killing off the pressure of Estrada?

I don't know the answer. I can't wait to find out. After watching Audley Harrison waltz his way to the end of his career on this past "Friday Night Fights," I'm simply looking forward to seeing two guys who intend to hurt each other.

Or as Estrada simply said, "I've never been scared to fight!"

He does have onions, doesn't he!

Joe Tessitore is the blow-by-blow announcer on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

How not to succeed in sport

By Ben Dirs BBC

Audley Harrison
Harrison's career is a tale of what might have been
After winning gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Audley Harrison was seen as the heir to Lennox Lewis' throne, the saviour of British boxing.

Fast forward almost six years and dismal losses to Danny Williams and America's Dominick Guinn have left his career in tatters.

Harrison has vowed to fight on, but his hopes of landing a credible world heavyweight title are virtually zero.

BBC Sport examines what went wrong and the lessons that can be learned from his mistakes.

DO NOT GO IT ALONE

Tough business, boxing - in and out of the ring. So when Harrison spurned the advances of some of the world's wiliest promoters and decided to go it alone on turning pro, alarm bells started ringing.

Harrison, as well as learning his craft and taking punches in the ring, would manage and promote himself and he signed an exclusive £1m deal with the BBC.

Two years and 11 fights later, the BBC had seen enough, the punters had seen enough and Harrison, unwilling to break bread with Britain's top promoter Frank Warren, fled to America.

Warren would have told him beating up part-timers on the top of bills was unlikely to endear him to the public and unlikely to prepare him for the bigger challenges ahead.

"If Audley had come with me in the first place," said Warren after Harrison's loss to Williams last December, "maybe his career would be in a better place. It was an accident waiting to happen."

STAY HUNGRY

The BBC's £1m may have effectively sealed Harrison's fate.

As Marvin Hagler once said: "It's hard to get out of bed to go for a run at 5 o'clock in the morning when you're wearing silk pyjamas."

But while Hagler endured 50 fights and won the world middleweight crown before he thought about upgrading his jim-jams, Harrison's hunger was satisfied before he had even thrown a pro punch.

Which might explain why, when matched with Williams last December, and again against Guinn last Friday, Harrison appeared not to have the stomach for a fight.

DO NOT BE COMPLACENT

While Amir Khan, who will no doubt get plenty of stick for the quality of his opponents in years to come, was 18 when he entered the paid ranks, Harrison was 29.

And while Khan, who won silver at the 2004 Olympics, can afford to build slowly and knock over a stiff or two on his way to the top, Harrison should have known better.

The opponents Harrison picked for himself were poor and did not get much better with time.

As a result, by the time he was 34 and up against Williams, he was armed with a jab like a stick of rhubarb and still did not know what it was like to be whacked.

DO NOT MAKE ENEMIES

It is one of the sacred rules of boxing that anyone who climbs between the ropes is worthy of respect. And if you will make outlandish boasts and belittle your rivals, you'd better have the trousers to back it up.

Danny Williams (left) unleashes a blow at Audley Harrison
Williams exposed Harrison in a poor fight last December
On turning pro, Harrison claimed he would win the British title in his fifth fight, irking his domestic rivals and triggering a few raised eyebrows among the boxing press.

He continued to mock Williams, right up to the point when he exploded the Harrison myth on a miserable night in London's East End.

Fans rushed towards Harrison to spit their anger as he trudged from the ring - the same fans who had cheered his Olympic triumph.

They had paid up to £200 to watch Harrison and Williams wrestle and paw at each other like a couple of tanked-up lovers at a youth club disco.

But Williams had earned his dues with a win over Mike Tyson and a brave effort against Vitali Klitschko. The fans just felt hoodwinked by Harrison.

Williams said Harrison had "no heart". Chris Eubank, a fighter mocked by the British public for his antics outside the ring but hugely respected for his courage inside it, said: "To be considered a boxer is an honour. I don't know if Audley Harrison can be considered a boxer."

KNOW WHEN TO QUIT

Seeing an Olympic champion being booed and abused by drunks and hearing him being buried by his fellow pros is depressing.

Audley Harrison at the UK premiere of the hit 2005 movie War of the Worlds
Will the film premiere invites now dry up for Harrison?
There is no shame in being uncomfortable with violence - mercifully, most of us are - and it takes a special person to do what boxers do.

Not even boxers like getting hit, but the best ones have a drive, a spirit, a viciousness in the ring that enables them to wade through the punches and repay an opponent in kind.

Against lesser fighters, Harrison was able to use his superior size and strength to steer clear of danger. Against Williams and Guinn, men in the same talent bracket, Harrison shrunk away from the violence.

That does not make him a coward. It just explains why he was unable to succeed at the highest level. Boxing and its fans demand violence and Harrison was unable to find it within him.

After his loss to Williams, Warren offered Harrison the chance to come back and fight on the undercard of one of his shows. Harrison grinned and declined, still dreaming of bigger things.

After his defeat to Guinn, a man who had lost three of his last five bouts, Harrison again said he would eventually win the heavyweight championship of the world.

After more than five years of bluster and unfulfilled promises, very few still share his belief.

Evander Holyfield Steps into the Ring with CirTran

4-TIME WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP EVANDER HOLYFIELD STEPS INTO THE RING WITH CIRTRAN AND 'THE REAL DEAL GRILL'

First, came the worldwide rights -- and today, the world-class lefts and rights -- as CirTran Corp. (OTCBB: CIRT) announced it has joined forces with former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield to market and promote "The Real Deal Grill(TM)," a new electric indoor/outdoor cooking product to be sold via TV infomercials.

CirTran, an international full-service contract manufacturer of IT, consumer and consumer electronics products, said that Holyfield, the only four-time heavyweight champion of the world, will put the gloves on again by putting his name on the new grill, and starring in TV infomercials to promote it and launch sales worldwide.

CirTran said it contracted with the former champion's company, Holyfield Management Inc., of Georgia, for his services to promote the product, and to film a series of TV infomercials featuring Holyfield and The Real Deal Grill, which are scheduled to be filmed in Florida next month.

The former champ said he was "very excited to have a great product he truly believed in bringing my fans -- and fans of great food -- around the world."

"In business, just like in my boxing career, I plan to put in the effort needed to make The Real Deal Grill the champion we all want it to be," Holyfield said.

A Winning Combination!

"When CirTran obtained the marketing and distributing rights to the grill for the U.S., Canada, Japan and South America late last year, we were very excited," said Trevor M. Saliba, the company's executive vice president of worldwide business development.

"Now, with the Champ in our corner, all I can say is 'Wow!' What a great winning combination Evander and The Real Deal Grill will be," he said.

"A Great Meal from The Real Deal"

"When Evander began his boxing career, he quickly earned -- and always lived up to -- the nickname, 'The Real Deal'," said Saliba. "Now, for the first time, Evander's fans and anybody else who just loves good food will be able to get 'a great meal from The Real Deal Grill!'"

Manufactured in China by CirTran-Asia, which specializes in the direct response, sold-on-TV marketplace, the grill is the first proprietary product to be engineered, manufactured and marketed by CirTran. It was designed and patented by Charles Ho, president of CirTran-Asia, and comes with a deluxe stand and multiple interchangeable cooking surfaces, and many other add-on items also available, making it the must-have grill from camping in the mountains, to tailgating, to grilling at home.

CirTran said it will initially market The Real Deal Grill via televised infomercial and print ads featuring Holyfield with its marketing partner, Reliant International, a direct response industry pioneer responsible for more than $3 billion in successful product launches, as well as use Internet media outlets, and the marketing efforts of its strategic partners worldwide.

"Some of the most popular consumer products in the world are those originally seen on infomercials," Saliba. "Now, together with Evander, we're setting our sights on becoming champions of the indoor/outdoor grill world with this great product."

JILLIAN JOHNSON - Standing by her man

Gordon Williams, Contributor Jamaica Gleaner

Jillian and Glen after his championship fight.

In the clearing stands the boxer, a fighter by trade

And he carries the reminder, of every blow that made

him down or cut him 'til he cried out

- from 'The Boxer' by Simon and Garfunkel.

MIAMI:

JILLIAN JOHNSON knows, just by watching her man enter the door of their Florida home, what kind of day he had at work.

Cut lips. Puffy eyes. Sometimes not a scratch at all, just a tired, drained look, tells her how hard the Clarendon-born man is preparing for his next assignment.

Still, he often carries home a smile for her because he is a good husband, whom she admires and respects, although he can get a bit antsy as a big job - which usually comes up a few times a year - draws closer.

The best thing - or worse, there's some debate - is that the petite, 'bouncing 30' woman from St. Mary gets to watch him close the deal at work. After months of preparation, she is on spot to see the final results. There's big money involved, but to make his presentation, Jillian Johnson's husband turns up at work not in a posh boardroom facing a cluster of rich execs in sharp suits across an elaborate table. He's in shorts, gloves, bare-chested and jumping around on canvas under the heat of bright lights in a square ring cut off from her by a few feet, his handlers and some rope. Across from him is another man about the same size, dressed the same way, going through a similar routine. He is eager to hurt her man. Badly. And she must watch.

GLEN JOHNSON

As the bell clangs to begin her husband's work, the day he closes another deal, Jillian Johnson, wife of light heavyweight boxer Glen Johnson, launches into her own fight routine right alongside his.

"The first thought that comes to mind is I am so proud of this young man," she starts out. "I thank God for blessing him with abilities and a sound mind and both fighters are safe."

Then it gets a bit blurry.

"After that my mind is going a mile a minute," she admits. "The first round is always the most nerve wracking until I see him having things under control."

UPS AND DOWNS

Of late, Jillian's husband has been in charge of most things, at home and work. He first saw her some four years ago, a chance meeting in Miami, and started a long dating process which ended in marriage last July. During that time Glen Johnson has won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Light Heavyweight Title; given it up to fight for bigger prize money and won that battle against American Antonio Tarver; been named best fighter in the world for 2004; lost the Tarver rematch last year; and is now on an urgent mission to get it all back - belt, big purses and all, before his time in the ring is done.

In his last fight on February 24, the 37-year-old 'Road Warrior' scored a unanimous 12-round decision over fellow Jamaican Richard Hall in Hollywood, Florida. He described that bout as "keeping busy" until he clashes with Britain's Clinton Woods, a man he has fought twice before, drawing once and winning.

BIGGEST FIGHT

Yet some two years ago, after beating Woods to grab the IBF title, the crown Woods has since regained, Johnson was asked what was his biggest fight in more than 40 professional bouts. Without hesitating, he quipped: "Getting that woman to marry me."

"That woman" was Jillian, whom he affectionately called 'wifey' long before they exchanged vows. During the bout against Hall she sat, legs crossed, composed in an elegant off-white suit occasionally sipping water from a bottle. She was nervous as hell, but no one else could really tell. A conversation with her hours before the fight had offered only a glimpse at her personality. Jillian Johnson from Annotto Bay, Jamaica is not shy, and hardly short of confidence. Her expression rarely changed as she delivered her words in a low, easy and measured tone, except for the sudden blushing smile as she offered a response to Johnson's comment two years ago.

"He said that? Wow!" she blurted out, apparently surprised that her equally "calm, cool and collected" partner, as she describes Glen, had ventured so far out on a limb of public expression.

SITS AT RINGSIDE

Jillian Johnson has been to several of her husband's fights. She sits ringside, close enough to follow the brutal sounds of the game - the crisp, rhythmic bap, bap, bap of the jabs and the heavy thump of the uppercut or straight right as punches meet human flesh hardly designed to withstand such pounding. She hears the grunts and groans which follow each blow. Not every woman-behind-the-boxer can do that, at least not calmly to the end. American television highlights recently showed a mother, distraught at the beating her son was taking, leaping into the ring to bash his opponent over the head with her shoe. Other women, like the mother of Jamaican-born undisputed world cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell, will simply stay away. Well, sort of. Norma Bell actually goes to the city where her son will fight, but refuses to enter the arena. She stays nearby, preferring to telephone someone else for a fight update.

"Oh no, I can't take it," she says. "I will support (O'Neil) in my hotel room. It (boxing) is not safe, that's what gets me worried so much, because that's my son in the ring and I can't watch it. I don't have the stomach for that."

ADAPTING

Neither does Jillian Johnson. But she is learning. Prior to meeting Glen, Jillian said she "hated boxing." Today she has mixed emotions about the brutal sport, but has accepted it. It is the passion of her man and has been that way for close to two decades. He won't quit, so Jillian has trained herself to feel the same way and has worked out a simple equation to deal with it.

"The fact that he loves it, I have to respect that," she says, "and because I love him I have to love what he loves, which is boxing."

That does not mean she merely rolls with the punches. Jillian Johnson spends so much time studying the game these days that she claims to know more about it than her husband, who takes her to watch fights even when he is not in the ring.

"I know the names and weight classes," she explains. "I can tell him about it. I research it. I want to be educated about the sport."

LEARNT TO COPE

She has learned to cope in other areas as well. Her father moved her from Jamaica to New York in 1986. She attended middle school in the U.S. and about 12 years ago she relocated to the American South where she earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Florida Atlantic University. She works in real estate and it was four years ago, while driving out of Florida on a business trip, that Glen saw her in traffic and asked her to pull over. He wanted to talk. They exchanged numbers and spoke by phone for about three of the eight hours of her road trip. It was an odd encounter for both of them. Call it fate.

"It was not in my character (to do that)," she says. "It was out of character for him too."

At the time Glen Johnson worked in construction to supplement his boxing income. He is a skilled carpenter. Shortly after they met, he made up his mind to nail down a permanent relationship with her. But Jillian wanted to wait, to see what he was like in all situations. Still, she liked his "soft hands" and sized him up as "very persistent, a humble guy."

GENTLEMAN GLEN

She would eventually get the character sketch she sought. Writers have nicknamed the Jamaican fighter 'Gentleman Glen' because he rarely complains about bad ring decisions - and he has suffered a few - or says anything really nasty about opponents, a common occurrence in boxing. Johnson has earned their respect and he is not afraid to dole out some as well. When he loses, as was the case against Tarver last year, his wife says he accepts it well.

"He said he takes his wins like a man," Jillian explains, "and he takes his losses like a man."

She liked that. His dedication also impressed her. Yet when her husband returns from work and he is banged up, that bothers Jillian . She has had to find subtle ways to cope.

"I see him come home from fights with busted lips, eyes, it hurts me," she admits. "It's my face. I know I have to kiss him gently."

Yet it's before he gets home, during the battle, when she is sitting at ringside, that Jillian becomes most vulnerable. In the Hall fight, blood squirted across the ring. Some splashed as far as the judges' table. That unnerved her a bit.

"Yes, it does bother me," she says.

Turns out the blood came from a gash on top of Glen's shaven head, caused by bumping into Hall's cornrow. Head butts are common in boxing, but that does not make it easier for Jillian Johnson to accept. Yet she doesn't question fate and that makes it easier. After the Hall fight she climbed into the ring to be with her husband. Later, inside the steamy locker room, she sat by his side, occasionally mopped his brow and helped him get dressed. She watched as he talked to strangers, posed for photos and signed autographs as his handlers relived the events in the ring less than an hour earlier. All part of the job. Jillian Johnson also watched in silence as her husband slumped on a chair recovering from another tough day at work.

"I'm sure of one thing," she says, "I put God first and I'm sure nothing is gonna happen that should not happen."

Coming up, sometime this summer, is Glen Johnson's inevitable third meeting with Woods. A title is on the line and Johnson wants it. His wife can sense his intense desire. He believes he will win. She does too.

"Glen is full of confidence even if he has doubts," she says. "In his head he is the best. And he is the best."

She knows, because she has seen him on the job. Up close.

HOW BOXING IMPACTS HEALTH

DR. PAUL Wright, sports medicine physician and orthopaedic surgeon said that if a boxer is constantly pounded upon, certain diseases will be noticeable over a long period of time such as personality changes, loss of temper or a tendency to be impatient; their motor skills could be impaired or they can get Parkinson's disease.

He added that these diseases might be detected by doing a MRI or CT or CAT scan. He noted that the fact that these tests are very expensive, it's not economical for the boxer to do them readily. Thus there is a cheap easy way to reproduce tests (digital symbol substitution test), to detect the small changes in both diseases. Also there are other diseases associated with constant pounding on the head or body such as: epilepsy, memory and punch drunk syndrome. Punch drunk syndrome is a condition that occurs in people who have suffered multiple concussions, commonly manifested as dementia, or declining mental ability, and parkinsonism, or tremors and lack of co-ordination. It can also cause unsteady gait, inappropriate behaviour, and speech problems.

Also, external trauma to the head is capable of damaging the brain, even if there is no external evidence of damage. More serious injuries can cause skull fracture, blood clots between the skull and the brain, or bruising and tearing of the brain tissue itself.

Courtesty of Ring Magazine. Visit www.thering-online.com for true, unbiased ratings and more!

TRAINERS GONE WILD

By William Dettloff

Maybe it’s me, but the $200,000 fine and one-year suspension Las Vegas slapped on Roger Mayweather for Mayweather’s role in the brawl (I refuse anymore for a period of six months to use the word “melee”) that broke out during his nephew’s win over Zab Judah seems a bit excessive. That’s pretty harsh. I’ll bet it’s more than what Roger took home back in the day for getting pancaked by Rocky Lockridge. Or Freddie Pendleton. Or Rafael Pineda. Or Ray Lovato. Or Julio Cesar Chavez.

Don’t get me wrong. Roger Mayweather was a good fighter. Good puncher too. Some say he had no chin, and that’s just not true. He absolutely had a chin. And if you could hit with a right, chances were you could put him to sleep.

Anyway, I bet if the trainer formerly known as “The Black Mamba” knew when he jumped through the ropes it was going to cost him 200K, he would have made sure he got his money’s worth and planted a straight right on someone’s kisser (where’s Lou Duva when you need him?), rather than going for the chokehold on Zab. Where did he think he was, anyway, The Octagon?

Besides that, it’s not like Roger jumped into the ring waving around a pick ax or a flame-thrower. He went in there to protect his guy and really didn’t get physical until Yoel Judah leaped in too and started throwing punches. I suppose that soon we’ll hear that the Judahs are being fined too, and/or suspended. That is, unless Don King’s impassioned speech before the Nevada State Athletic Commission last week convinces them to go easy on Team Judah. Let’s hope not. Yoel may sound like Bernie Mac after 1,700 cups of Starbucks high-octane Java, but he’s not nearly as likable or entertaining (and really, who is?) and shouldn’t escape punishment.

Speaking of punishment, how is it that former John Ruiz cornerman Norm Stone never got a fine as big as the one slapped on Mayweather? He was ready to start throwing punches during the referee’s prefight instructions. Really, he should have been fined most heavily the time he showed up in Ruiz’ corner with his head shaved bald. It was ugly. I wanted to gouge out my eyes by the third round, and for once during a Ruiz fight, it wasn’t because of all the clinches.

If the commissions really want to make some money by fining parties that contribute to a negative perception of the sport, they should start with the IBF—for allowing Judah to retain their version of the welterweight title despite his loss to Carlos Baldomir.

Come to think of it, that may be the way to get rid of these so-called organizations: Have every state commission fine them whenever they sanction an obvious mismatch, call someone an “interim” or “super” champion—or rate a dead guy. Fine them all the way into Chapter 11. Bankrupt them. Oh, wait, that’s right. It’s been done. It doesn’t work.

Really, I’m surprised more trainers don’t lose it and get into fights during actual, sanctioned matches. Remember, most of these guys are former fighters themselves, and I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for them to tell their guy over and over in the corner what he has to do to win, only to be ignored round after round after round. Go through that long enough and it could change you forever. For instance, I heard that before Michael Moorer’s fight against Vaughn Bean, Teddy Atlas, one of the game’s great friends and Moorer’s head trainer, actually smiled. Once.

This is a rough business. It will get to you.

Bill can be contacted at dettloff@ptd.net.

BYRD-KLITSCHKO:
DAVID vs. GOLIATH, PART II

By Don Stradley

When HBO announced that Chris Byrd would defend the IBF title against Wladimir Klitschko on April 22, we didn’t throw open our windows to tell the neighbors. But in Mannheim, Germany, where the fight will take place, the 14,000-seat SAP Arena was sold out after only 48 hours. Apparently, Klitschko’s ongoing tale of redemption has some people interested. And maybe it should. During this forlorn heavyweight era, Klitschko has as good a chance as any to become the division’s focal point.

The interest in this fight for American fight fans has to do with how far Byrd and Klitschko have slipped since their meeting in 2000, when Klitschko dropped Byrd twice on his way to an easy points victory. Since then, Klitschko has been kayoed twice, and in his last bout, a decision over Sam Peter, he was decked three times and spent most of the fight hanging on to Peter like a man clinging to a rock cliff. It wasn’t a great performance, but it was better than Byrd’s last bout, a dull decision win over DaVarryl Williamson. Byrd didn’t help his cause by kvetching about Don King after the fight; he looked like a disgruntled Wal-Mart employee, not a heavyweight titlist.

Avenging the earlier loss is probably less important to Byrd than simply keeping his career alive. There’s just no interest in a soft-punching, smallish heavyweight like Byrd. Does he have a chance? He might give the skittish Ukrainian some rough moments, but Klitschko should have enough left to beat Byrd. He’s done it before, and that should add a vital element to Klitschko’s fight plan: confidence. The addition of Emanuel Steward to his corner should be helpful too, although at times there seems to be a communication breakdown between Klitschko and his new trainer.

Klitschko said recently of Byrd, “I defeated him in Cologne, Germany, in 2000. Since then Byrd has improved and boxed top boxers like [Evander] Holyfield and [Andrew] Golota. Byrd matured and is not comparable with the man of five years before. He is very awkward to box.”

Byrd agrees that he has changed. “My mindset the first time we fought was, I’m fighting this big guy! I was more timid and trying to use more finesse. My whole thing now is I like fighting big guys. It’s like an addiction.”

But addictions can be harmful. Also, Byrd is 35; Klitschko is 30. As Larry Merchant has often said, younger, bigger, and stronger usually wins. Merchant could add that a Klitschko fighting in Germany usually wins too.

The Ring Update Archives

Byrd could lose title to Wladimir

SuperSportsZone
IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd could have the toughest fight of his career on his hands when he defends his title against Wladimir Klitschko in Mannheim, Germany, on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Klitschko, a local favourite with a record of 45-3 (40 stoppages) has weight and height advantages and beat Byrd on points in October 2000.

The odds are stacked against the 35-year-old Byrd, whose record stands at 39-2-1 (19). He has held the belt since December 2002 when he beat an ageing Evander Holyfield for the vacant belt. The southpaw champion has made successful defences against Fres Oquendo, Andrew Golota, Jameel McCline and DeVarryl Williamson.

He will be aware that all three losses on Klitschko�s record � to Ross Puritty, Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster � were inside the distance.

Klitschko won the WBO belt from Byrd in 2000 and then lost it to South Africa�s Sanders.

He came back with wins over Fabio Eduardo Moli and Darnell Nicholson before being stopped by American Lamon Brewster. He did well for the first four rounds before running out of gas in the fifth.

In September 2005 he outpointed the dangerous Samuel Peter.

Byrd started his career in 1993 as a middleweight and has held both the WBO and IBF belts. He also has some impressive wins over Vitali Klitschko, David Tua, Evander Holyfield and Jameel McCline.

On Saturday, he once again meets someone much bigger than he is, but this has been the pattern of his heavyweight career.

To beat Klitschko, he will have to hurt him, which does not seem likely. The fight should go the distance but despite his boxing skills Byrd will possibly be on the losing end after 12 rounds.

Snippets

The IBF have announced that Canadian Steve Molitor, 22-0 (8), will meet Sergio Manuel Medina, 24-0 (15), for the vacant IBF junior featherweight title. Israal Vazquez has been stripped of the belt. The parties have until May 17 to agree on terms or the IBF will call for a purse offers.

Former IBF flyweight champion Irene Pacheco, 31-1 (24), returns to action against Heriberto Ruiz, 34-4-2 (19), in an eliminator for the IBF number two ranking.

The fight will be on the April 29 bill in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on the same card as the clash between unbeaten WBO strawweight champion Ivan Calderon, 25-0 (5), and Miguel Tellez, 17-5 (6).

Super lightweights Henry Bruseles, 23-3-1 (14), and Cesar Bazan, 45-7-1(29), meet in a ten-rounder on the same card.

Live television coverage of the tournament will be broadcast on CSN and SuperSport 1, starting at 03:00, SA time, on April 30.

IBF strawweight champion Muhammad Rachman defends his title against Omar Soto in Senayan, Jakarta, on May 6.

WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison will now face Mexican Martin Honorio, 21-3-1 (12), in Belfast on May 20. Mandatory challenger Joan Guzman has withdrawn because he intends fighting at super featherweight.

Luis Collazo�s WBA welterweight belt may not be on line when he meets Ricky Hatton in Boston on May 13. The WBA�s No 1 contender, Oktay Urkal, has requested to be given preference.

Duran makes time for fans

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ MiamiHerald.com

Few athletes can catch the public's attention in almost any corner of the globe -- Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Pelé, to name a few.

After finally giving up his craft five years ago and 17 years removed from his final brush with ring glory, Roberto Duran is on such a short list of sporting personalities whose appeal radiates long past retirement.

From his years of dominating the lightweight division in the early 1970s to his admirable title-winning performance in the late 1980s, Duran values his connection with fans. As a result, the world champion of four weight classes remains one of boxing's goodwill ambassadors.

''There is no reason to be self-centered when it comes to dealing with the public,'' Duran said in Spanish on Saturday after appearing on The Dos Amigos radio program on 790 The Ticket. ``If the public gave you so much support, why not return that favor with a handshake or pose with them for a photograph?

``Sometimes I am surprised in the places I am recognized. I was in England awhile back, and I never thought the British fans would embrace me because I won the lightweight title when I beat [Scotland's] Ken Buchanan. But they were very generous and wanted me to know how much they appreciated my career.''

Duran, whose career spanned 32 years and 119 fights, again will bond with fans Saturday night at Club Cinema in Pompano Beach. He is part of the Team Freedom promotional team that will present a six-bout show at the nightclub venue.

The 54-year-old Duran has joined his former manager, Luis De Cubas, of Team Freedom.

De Cubas managed Duran during his run to the middleweight title in 1989.

''I am not involved in the matchmaking or the business side of the promotion,'' Duran said. ``My involvement is more in a public relations capacity.''

One goal Duran hopes to fulfill with Team Freedom is to land a top heavyweight fight in his native Panama, and he has even discussed the possibility with Panamanian president Martin Torrijos.

''Our country has had many world champions, and the sport is very popular, but we have never been able to present an attractive heavyweight fight,'' Duran said. ``We would like to provide that opportunity to the people of Panama.''

HEAVY FAVORITES

In the past five months, Eastern European fighters have claimed two of the four major heavyweight titles. Wladimir Klitschko will attempt to become the third when he fights defending IBF champion Chris Byrd on Saturday in Germany.

Russian Nicolay Valuev won the WBA title with a decision against John Ruiz in December, and Belarus' Sergei Liakhovich outpointed former champion Lamon Brewster on April 1 to capture the WBO belt.

Klitschko, of the Ukraine, will seek a second victory and title reign against Byrd. In 2000, Klitsckho defeated Byrd for the WBO title.

COMING UP

• Wednesday (10 p.m., ESPN2): David Estrada vs. Kermit Cintron, 12, welterweights.

• Friday (9 p.m., ESPN2): Taurus Sykes vs. Derek Bryant, 10, heavyweights.

• Friday (9 p.m., Telefutura-Ch. 69): Rogelio Castañeda vs. Craig Weber, 12, junior-welterweights.

• Saturday (5 p.m., HBO): Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko, 12, for Byrd's IBF heavyweight title.

• Saturday (7:30 p.m., at Club Cinema, 3251 North Federal Highway, Pompano Beach): Six-bout card, headlined by Richard Gutierrez vs. Hicklet Lau, 10, welterweights; tickets range between $30 and $60; 954-785-5224.

David Estrada Wouldn't Trade Anything For A Crack at Kermit Cintron
By Chris Robinson, BRC (April 17, 2006)

Photo © HoganPhotos.com

In a fight that is both compelling and overlooked, always-game David Estrada and power punching Kermit Cintron will meet this Wednesday on ESPN2 in Palm Beach, Florida. This is a clash of two strong and bruising Welterweights and when the dust is settled one of them will be walking away with the IBF’s #2 ranking.

For Estrada this is the chance to regain the same type of momentum he picked up when he upset Chris Smith in January of 2005. In that fight Estrada showed great stamina and a punishing body attack on his way to an 11th round TKO. It was the type of victory that elevated Estrada’s career to a new high, and he knows that a win over Cintron will do the same. It’s a big fight and it seems to be clear that Estrada isn’t looking past his foe.

‘I think he’s a pretty good fighter,’ Estrada told Bragging Rights Corner of Cintron recently. ‘I don’t have anything bad to say about him. His only loss was to one of the best fighters out there so I’m definitely not looking past him.’

Cintron casts a shadow over many of his opponents and his size and strength have always been some of his bigger advantages. For Estrada, this seems to be the least of his concerns.

‘That doesn’t really bother me,’ he told us. ‘I like fighting people who are bigger than me, because when I beat them it makes me look better. His size isn’t a problem to me.’

A Chicago native now living in Miami, Florida, Estrada has supporters who are well spread out and he is looking forward to performing down south.

‘It’s pretty cool to be fighting in Florida because I have a lot of fans down here. I think it's real good. I could fight here or in Chicago and I would get a lot of love.’

After clamoring for a big fight match-up throughout the second half of 2005, Estrada was left in the dust as many of the top Welterweights went to work. Because of his situation it has been nearly a year since Estrada last laced up the gloves but he feels the layoff won’t be a problem.

‘I’m not worried about a layoff at all,’ he told us. ‘I don’t really believe in tune-ups. I figure that as long as I train I shouldn’t have to fight somebody with a losing record before I fight someone good. A fight is a fight.’

Estrada might not be the type to always stay in the gym, but when he does get himself in shape, everything seems to flow from there.

‘Some of my favorite things about training are feeling healthy and strong. When I’m not training I don’t always eat right or get enough rest but when I’m training I just feel clean. It’s like everything in life comes together for me. It’s like everything is perfect.’

The Cintron fight marks a huge moment in Estrada’s career and his focus seems to be set, but he admits to keeping a close eye on the premier fighters in his weight class.

‘I’ve been watching pretty much all the top Welterweight fights that have been taking place,’ the straight-to the point Estrada told us. ‘I saw Mayweather vs. Judah and I’m going to be watching Ricky Hatton’s next fight against Luis Collazo too. I keep a close eye on the division because I’m curious as to who is going to win and who is going to be one of my next victims.’

Estrada is the type of fighter who boxing needs to keep itself going and while he may not be the most skillful guy you’ll ever see, he gets by on heart and grit. For that alone he should never be counted out and when we asked him what was going to win the fight for him, he didn’t skip a beat.

‘Pressure is going to win this fight for me. I just don’t think he’ll be able to take it.’

Estrada has told us in the past that boxing is a natural high for him, and regardless of the outcome April 19th, it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to be doing anything else with his life.

‘I love this job. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,’ he says. ‘I’ve worked other 9 to 5 jobs and I’ve done some construction, but nothing is like boxing. I can’t stand working for somebody else, or taking orders from someone if they aren’t my trainer. I feel like I’m my own boss and I am also the one who pays everybody on my team. That makes me feel good because I’m putting money into people’s pockets through their hard work for me. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.’

The card will be hosted at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, it is promoted by Bob Bostick, and the ESPN2 telecast will begin at 10:00 PM Eastern. For more information on Bostick Promotions check out their web site.

Taylor Hires New Trainer

by Dan Rafael ESPN.com

Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who has had the same training team since his 2001 pro debut, is making a major change in his corner two months before he is to defend his title against No. 1 contender Winky Wright.

Taylor (25-0, 17 KOs), who faces Wright (50-3, 25 KOs) in his second title defense June 17 in Memphis, has hired trainer Emanuel Steward to serve as a co-trainer with Pat Burns, who has been Taylor's head trainer his entire pro career.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Two months before he is scheduled to defend his title against No. 1 contender Winky Wright, Taylor is changing trainers.

"It happened in the last week or so," Burns told ESPN.com Monday night. "It's a done deal. We're going to start camp in a week and a half, and we will go to [Steward's base in] Detroit. We will pick Emanuel's brain."

Steward is in Germany preparing Wladimir Klitschko for his fight Saturday against heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd, and couldn't be reached for comment.

Steward, who runs the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit, has worked with numerous world champions, most notably Lennox Lewis and Thomas Hearns.

He also worked as a co-trainer for a stint with former featherweight champ Naseem Hamed, a pairing that didn't work out very well due to friction between Steward and co-trainer Oscar Suarez. At one point, Steward and Suarez resorted to alternating rounds during which they would speak to Hamed.

Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoter, said the addition of Steward was not a knock on Burns, who guided Taylor to back-to-back wins against Bernard Hopkins and the undisputed title last year.

"I think Pat has done a terrific job," DiBella told ESPN.com. "When you have an opportunity to add someone into a corner the quality of Emanuel Steward, a Hall of Famer, and a proven teacher and strategist, it can't do anything but be a positive. I am thrilled that Pat remains in the corner and remains an integral part of Team Taylor."

If Burns was stung by the move, he didn't let on.

"Winky Wright is no walk in the park," Burns said. "He's a smart, good and slick fighter. If this is what it takes to beat Winky Wright, then that is what you have to do."

In addition to Burns and Steward, Ozell Nelson will also be in the corner. Nelson, Taylor's amateur coach, has been an assistant to Burns throughout Taylor's pro career.

Hatton's Trainer: "We want Mayweather"

By Ben Cohen: Ricky Hatton's trainer, Billy Graham, is hardly the most charming of people. He snarls rather than speaks, and every other word he utters is an expletive. He looks like the type of bloke you would probably avoid down the pub; the angry looking, shaved head type, ready to argue with anyone, and quick to disagree.

Graham does not really listen to what is said to him, rather he talks about what he wants, and answers questions he thinks should have been asked.

But, he is a fine trainer, and the type of person you would want in your corner. He has honed Ricky Hatton into an awesome fighting machine with his training methods, and he is one of the most respected trainers in the game because of it.

"I wasn't keen at all, why would I be?" said Graham irritably when asked about Hatton's upcoming fight with Luis Collazo. "My kid is Light Welterweight champion of the world, I am kind of reluctant to have him fight a welterweight southpaw who is a mover, and the objective of it all is to look good, as it is for the American public."

"He is the worst type of opponent," he continued. "I would have to be brain dead to not show my concerns about it. But, my concern was never, never that I though he could beat Ricky Hatton," he says emphatically, responding to members of the press who have read into his protests at taking this bout.

"Ricky Hatton could beat anyone at his weight in the world. The fight's on, we just got to deal with it."

How will he deal with a tall rangy southpaw in training?

"I know how to deal with a southpaw," he says flatly. "Ricky's got the tools to deal with a southpaw."

Does Hatton maintain his power and strength at 147?

"Absolutely".

Why this fight, and not someone slightly less difficult?

"It's the fight we were told to take."

Who would he have preferred?

"I'd prefer to fight Mayweather, because everyone thinks that Mayweather is the pound for pound best fighter in the world. It's Mayweather that we want", he opens up.

And how would he see that fight panning out?

"I see Ricky winning",

Too much pressure?

"Yeah, I think he'd put too much pressure on Mayweather. I think he is too intense, not just that, you can't beat Mayweather with just intensity, he is a genius, a wicked talent, but he's got flaws the same as anyone else, the same as Kostya Tszyu. My kid's a great fighter. It's not just his intensity and pressure which is of course what he brings," he says.

"He's a lot more than that, he has educated shots, he can read a fighter well, he's as quick as lightening himself, great foot work. He's a lot more than just intensity and pressure, but that would be a big part of it."

What flaws does Graham see in Mayweather?

"I see loads of flaws in him," he replies bluntly. "But you can't ask me to do this over a taped interview. I'm the coach, I see loads of flaws."

Moving on, what of the other opponents out there, in or around Hatton's weight category? Miguel Cotto for example?

"I think he is a great fighter, but he's a welterweight. He has got to move up to Welterweight NOW."

And how does he think Ricky would fare against him at 147?

"Why would we take the fight at 147?" he asks incredulously.

At 140 then?

"At 140, Ricky would stop him. It wouldn't be early, but Ricky would stop him", he states adamantly.

And what of Hatton's old British nemesis, Junior Witter?

"He would MURDER Junior Witter," he barks. "He would MURDER Junior Witter. There is not a prayer Junior Witter would see the final bell".

Ricardo Torres, the man who almost toppled Cotto in a thrilling 8 round brawl last year?

"I think Ricardo Torres is a wicked puncher, a massive puncher, he was a banger all his life, a real dangerous fighter, but that's about it," he says.

Given that Hatton has stated he wants to be out of the fight game in the next two to three years, whom would Graham choose to be Hatton's next three opponents?

"Mayweather, Mayweather, Mayweather" he replies slowly.

And with that, he walks off.

Joe Calzaghe: I cried... and then I swore I'd never lose again

independent.co.uk
Brian Viner Interviews: The Welsh boxer who stunned America with his devastating march towards a unified world title says he can be even better still

Whether or not the English will have an exciting sporting event to look forward to on the weekend of the World Cup final, the Welsh have one already. On 8 July, the eve of football's showpiece occasion, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, a darling of the valleys if not before his obliteration of the American Jeff Lacy in Manchester last month then certainly since, will be fighting at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

It will be the first time a boxing bill has taken place in that marvellous arena, but Calzaghe's opponent has yet to be decided. There has been talk that the Welshman might fight the IBF light-heavyweight champ, Clinton Woods, a prospect given further spice by a £500,000 bet reportedly struck between Calzaghe's manager, Frank Warren, and Woods's manager, Dennis Hobson, the latter demanding bookmaker's odds of 7-4.

Warren, however, told me yesterday that he didn't think the Woods fight was going to happen, asserting that Hobson had offered the bet merely to gain publicity for his protégé's next bout in May. In any case, Woods is not the fight Calzaghe really wants. The medium-term plan is for him to step up to light-heavyweight to take on the winner of the Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins fight, or for the winner of the Winkie Wright-Jermaine Taylor fight to step up from middleweight to fight Calzaghe.

And there is always the fading but still formidable Roy Jones Jnr. Whatever, Calzaghe is entitled to expect headline opponents. Wiping the floor with Lacy propelled him into the world's pound-for-pound top 10 and, in the estimation of no less an authority than Barry McGuigan, confirmed him as Britain's greatest-ever fighter.

"I'm willing to fight Woods," says Calzaghe. "He's a good fighter, but it would still be a mismatch. I'd destroy him. My natural weight is 13st 7lb. That's what I walk around at. So stepping up a weight won't be a problem. I'll still have the speed, and the extra poundage will give me added punching power."

If Warren is wrong (which he rarely is where boxing is concerned) and the Woods camp have every intention of fighting Calzaghe, then these words might give them pause for thought. As a rule, Calzaghe does not make idle boasts.

Indeed, if it is possible to say "I'd destroy him" in a modest way, then Calzaghe does so. Softly spoken, friendly and blessedly articulate, he is also the least vainglorious of boxing champions, turning up for our interview in an unremarkable BMW, which he parks in a dirty puddle outside his father Enzo's gym on an industrial estate in the old Welsh mining village of Abercarn.

The gym is housed in a low-slung, grey, pebble-dashed building that must appear distinctly unsalubrious to anyone who didn't see Calzaghe's previous gym, just up the road in Newbridge. But having spent some time with Calzaghe in the old gym, I can report that this one is downright ritzy. The old place, where the seeds were sown of a professional boxing record that currently stands at 41 victories and no defeats, was little more than a tumbledown shack.

Calzaghe walks into his gym with the graceful ease of a boxer, but otherwise his looks belie his profession. He is handsome, almost pretty, with not the slightest indication that he has ever taken even a single piledriver to the face. I suppose it is a paradox that the greatest of boxing champions very often don't look like boxers, but it is a paradox easily explained. Calzaghe is not easy to hit. His nose remains aquiline and unbroken.

The favourite for last month's fight, on the other hand, went home to Florida in a dreadful state, doubtless reflecting ruefully on his pre-fight contention that Calzaghe was not a puncher but a slapper.

"One of my mates went to Lacy's hotel and took a picture of him," says Calzaghe, with a slight smile. "Considering I slap, he looked like he'd been run over by a bus. Both eyes were busted up, there were big swabs up his nose and everything. But it's too easy for me to rub it in: that's not my style. I had a lot of respect for him and I still have. He had the balls to come over to fight me, and if he hadn't I would have been stuck in the doldrums." Instead, he is now getting the acclaim that he feels he has long deserved.

He has been a super-middleweight world champion since beating Chris Eubank in October 1997; now he is the world champion.

"If I'd lost, everyone would have said 'we told you so, he's overrated'. And that would have been disastrous for my legacy. I did think about that a little bit. About three weeks before the fight I started having doubts in myself. I told Frank, and I told my dad. My dad is a great judge of fights. He's the only person I know who said that Holyfield would beat Tyson the first time. And he said that this would be one of my easiest defences, that I'd smash this guy to bits."

Whether or not Enzo was overdoing the bluster to give his boy confidence, he called it correctly. Calzaghe outclassed Lacy with a dazzling display of speed and power that, in terms of epic British performances in the boxing ring, McGuigan later compared with Randolph Turpin's 1951 knockout of Sugar Ray Robinson.

"Every single sports writer in America said Lacy would come over here and knock me out," Calzaghe says. "Even in Britain I was the underdog. So it wasn't just that I beat him, but the manner in which I beat him. Even if I never perform like that again I think I've cemented my legacy.

"I've had an amazing amount of letters from people saying it was the best fight they'd ever seen. Letters from old people, from Scandinavia even, thanking me. I don't know what they're thanking me for but I'm pleased that I gave everybody a great fight. The Eubank fight will always be the best because that's when I won the world title, but I'd never performed at this level before."

By the Saturday of the fight, Calzaghe had been convinced both by his father and his own supreme level of fitness that he was unbeatable. "I usually get quite nervous before a fight. The adrenalin is pumping. But before this one I felt so relaxed, so chilled out. It was the most important fight of my life and I couldn't believe how relaxed I was. I was totally in the zone and I just felt that the fight was mine, that it was my defining moment, that he'd just been put there for me.

"You could say that he froze or whatever, but you're only as good as your opponent allows you to be. I jumped on him right at the start and threw a fast combination, and that set the tone. Apparently I threw over 1,000 punches and connected with most of them. I knew Lacy was a puncher, but I like people who come forward. That suits me. He's quite one-dimensional, I knew he'd come in straight lines, loading up the big shots, but I knew I'd do him with speed. He'd probably sparred with every other southpaw in the world, but he hadn't sparred with me."

Afterwards, as Calzaghe soaked up the adulation, did it ever flit across his mind that after 18 successful defences of his title and one career-defining fight, he might, at 33 - now 34 - hang up the gloves and be assured a hallowed place in the boxing annals for ever? He laughs. "No chance. No way. I've just got through a divorce, I still need to make money. And I've looked after myself, I haven't had many wars in the ring, I'm not all marked and bashed up, and at the age of 34 I've just given my best-ever performance. Fighters peak at different times. Tyson peaked at 21 and was shot when he was 30. I'd love to fight another two years, but no more than that. I'll quit at 36, tops. But I'm sure I'll stay in boxing in some way."

Calzaghe has luxuriated in his new-found status since the Lacy fight, but now the luxuriating must stop and the training begin. "I've been a bit lazy. I've done a little running and that's about it. I went to Dubai with my girlfriend and that was great, so much so that I think I'm going to get a place out there.

"But I've got kids, two boys, so I had to get back. I've spent a lot of time with my boys, and I bought them an X-box 360. That's the only thing I've bought since the fight, really. I'll probably get myself another car but I'm sensible with money, not lavish. I'm on good money but it's not massive, and I'll be a long time retired.

"Apart from that I've spent a lot of time sitting back and reflecting, and talking with Frank about the next fight. Frank's been great for me. I went to him after 21 fights with Mickey Duff when I realised I couldn't even afford my mortgage and I was watching fighters like Robin Reid go straight to world title fights.

"I knew Frank would deliver the unification fight, and the Millennium Stadium's a fantastic venue, it doesn't get bigger than that."

It was at the adjacent Cardiff Arms Park, on the Lennox Lewis-Frank Bruno card in October 1993, that Calzaghe had his first professional fight. One journalist who was there saw enough in the youngster to suggest presciently that the assembled crowd would in time recall the evening less for anything that Lennox and Bruno did than for the fact that they were present when Joe Calzaghe made his debut. More than 12 years and 18 world title fights later, I ask Calzaghe whether he can still get better?

"Definitely," he says. "The perfect fighter has never been born and never will be." What, then, of boxing itself? How might Calzaghe improve the game that has given him such a good living? "I wish there was just one belt. I was a genuine world champion for eight years before I beat Lacy, yet the Americans were saying that the WBO belt was not a proper belt." A rare frown. "The fighter makes the belt. The WBC title is supposed to be more prestigious, but how many WBC champions were there in those eight years? About 15. I beat Eubank and Benn and I've held the title ever since.

"So boxing would definitely be better if there was just one champion, but that's impossible because of the politics of it. The politics drags it down a bit, but then politics is what makes boxing happen. I wouldn't change anything else. There's no fixing any more, and it's safer now than it's ever been... "

Which raises the question: should not the Lacy fight have been stopped? "Probably, yeah. When I was fighting I didn't realise it was so one-sided, how helpless he looked. It was only pride and heart that kept him in there, and it was the job of the referee or trainer to say he'd had enough. They might have thought he still had a puncher's chance, but there was no way, there was nothing in him. So from the eighth round on they'd have been justified in pulling him. It would have been better for his career, too. If you lose in seven or eight, you can always say you had an off-night. But to get beaten like that over the distance, that's going to be hard for him mentally."

Calzaghe knows about the mental torment of losing, even though it has been 17 years since it last happened. "It was in the European Junior Championships and afterwards I cried and cried. It was in Prague against a Romanian guy. He won on points and I was absolutely gutted. I swore to myself that I was never going to lose again, and that's what drives me still. More than money, more than titles, more than fame, it's the desire not to be defeated." There speaks a true champion of the world.

Barrera to defend title against Juarez

The Associated Press

MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA AND ROCKY JUAREZ

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rocky Juarez is getting his shot at a championship. He realizes just how imposing a challenge he faces.

Moving up in weight, Juarez will challenge WBC/IBF super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera on May 20 at Staples Center as part of a card that will also feature Jorge Rodrigo Barrios defending his WBO super featherweight crown against unbeaten Janos Nagy.

"I know I'm the underdog. This is the first time in 26 fights I've been the underdog," Juarez said Wednesday at a news conference to formally announce the matchup.

"It is an honor to be fighting a champion like him," Juarez said. "I wake up every day motivated to go to the gym, running. I haven't felt that for any of my fights. I feel very confident, very excited to be fighting for a world title.

"He is the champion, I'm going to have to impose myself. If I'm going to beat him by decision, it's going to have to be convincingly. If it's close, they're going to give it to him."

Juarez, who turns 26 Saturday, has a 25-1 record with 18 knockouts. The 32-year-old Barrera, from Iztacalco, Mexico, is 61-4 with 42 knockouts. Among those who have lost to Barrera are Erik Morales (twice), Jesus Salud, Prince Naseem Hamed, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley and, most recently Robert Peden.

Juarez, from Houston, thanked Barrera for giving him this opportunity, but Barrera said: "He wins the opportunity to fight me. Strong, hungry, a warrior — Rocky Juarez is him."

When asked if Juarez would be one of his toughest opponents, Barrera replied through a translator: "Not one of the toughest I've ever fought, but tough, at this moment."

The 12-round bout promoted by Golden Boy Promotions will be televised by HBO World Championship Boxing.

Barrios, from Argentina, has a 45-2-1 record with 32 knockouts. Nagy, from Hungary, is 23-0 with 14 knockouts.

Golden Boy Promotions also announced another championship doubleheader, involving four fighters from Mexico, to be held a week later at the Home Depot Center in nearby Carson.

WBO bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez will defend his title against Fernando Montiel on May 27. Gonzalez, 24, is 32-4 with 28 knockouts while Montiel, 27, is 32-1-1 with 24 knockouts.

Montiel is moving up in weight in search of a world title in a third different weight class.

"We're friends outside of the ring," Montiel said before shaking hands and speaking briefly with Gonzalez. "I guarantee you it's going to be a great fight."

Also, WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon will defend his title for the first time against Barrera's cousin, unbeaten Alejandro Barrera.

Ponce De Leon, 25, is 27-1 with 25 knockouts. Barrera, 26, is 18-0 with 12 knockouts.

MY EIGHT MONTH FLING WITH MIKE TYSON..BY DONCASTER SHOP GIRL CHLOE, 16
From The Mirror, UK

A TEENAGE shop girl from Doncaster has revealed how she dumped boxing legend Mike Tyson, claiming he cheated on her with four women.

Heartbroken Chloe Butler, 16, decided to spill the beans on their eight-month affair after the former world heavyweight champ allegedly took part in a hotel orgy.

During Chloe's bizarre romance with feared 'Iron' Mike, she said he tried to give her £250,000 in cash, trashed a hotel room and threatened to kill his manager.

Despite his feared reputation - he served three years for rape - Chloe claimed Tyson was a gentle lover, who crooned James Blunt's song You're Beautiful to her and spoon-fed her ice-cream.

Even Chloe's parents approved of the relationship, despite twice-married Tyson's reputation and the 23-year age difference.

Blonde Chloe first met Tyson - once dubbed "the baddest man on the planet" - in June last year, days after her 16th birthday.

He was touring Britain in the "Legendary Boxing Dinner" shows and her parents, who had met Tyson before, took her along.

She said: "There was an instant spark and I thought he was so much cuter and softer than how he was painted - really childlike.

"He kept winking at me from the top table, sat next to Frank Bruno. Mike called me up to talk to him. He just kept saying how beautiful I was.

"Later, when he took the mike and was about to answer the audience's questions, he said, 'I love you Chloe'.

"At the end, he beckoned me over and said, 'Do you want to spend the night with me?' "

Chloe claimed their love affair began that evening at his hotel.

"I couldn't believe how gentle he was with me that night," she said.

"Every step of the way he kept asking if I was OK to go on.

"He even asked if I minded him taking his clothes off. I think he was really scared about being accused of rape again."

The next day Chloe travelled to London with him and they stayed in the expensive Grosvenor House Hotel. Then 39-year-old Tyson made his bizarre £250,000 cash offer. Chloe went on: "He handed me a plastic bag from the safe, as though it was nothing and said, 'I want you to have this Chloe'.

"When I looked inside, it was full of wads of money tied up with elastic bands. I said I didn't want it. But he put his big hands inside and started stuffing money in my trouser pocket and jacket pocket. I was just taking it all out again.

"In the end, there was money all over the floor. I still refused to take it and he just shook his head and said, 'You're stupid, Chloe'.

"But I thought why should I just be another girl after his money.

"I wanted to be different and didn't need money to stay faithful. It wasn't till afterwards that his friend told me how much money was in that bag."

A month later, Tyson, who bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 fight, phoned to say he was buying her a plane ticket to join him in Las Vegas. She said: "I'd only ever gone to Skegness or Cleethorpes. My life suddenly became amazing."

Chloe stayed in a hotel suite the size of a house and sat around the pool watching Tyson pay £1,000 a time for brandy shots.

She said: "He spent more on drink in one weekend than I spend in two years. He even got me a £500 cocktail."

The teenager, who still lives with her parents, went on: "He was so generous with everyone. He said that all six of his children had £5million each in a trust fund for when they are older."

Chloe said she and Tyson were so close that when he was in a bad mood his security guards, manager and PA would ask for her help. It was like I was the only one who could control him. "I really felt we had a future when he started hinting about marriage. I really loved him He loved loads of soppy music and would sing love songs to me. We used to have feasts at 3am when he would eat chips followed by a spoonful of ice cream."

Chloe added: "The age difference did not matter at all."

The relationship started to fall apart several weeks ago when Tyson trashed a hotel room after a celebrity night in Manchester, where Chloe met Wayne Rooney.

Tyson had been upset by autograph hunters and went wild back at the hotel. Chloe said: "He told me to get his manager out of there or he'd kill him. He wrecked the room. Straight after he did it, it was as if nothing had happened. He sat on the edge of the bed and said, 'Sorry, are you all right?' I asked him why he'd done it and he said, 'Things get on top of me sometimes."

Their relationship ended after Chloe read allegations that Tyson had slept with four women in a Brighton hotel. She said: "I got straight in a taxi from Yorkshire and went there to confront him. It cost me £300."

As he was having breakfast in the hotel, Chloe marched up to him for a showdown. She said: "His friends were laughing because I was telling this huge man to move his arse upstairs.

"But I was never scared of him, just furious he could have betrayed me. I was shouting at him but he denied cheating on me. I said I never wanted to see or speak to him again and stormed out. He really did break my heart. I had dreams of marrying him. We were good for each other."

Louis' hometown trying to reconnect

Some in Alabama town haven't heard of boxer

The Associated Press
This small home located some six miles from downtown LaFayette, Ala. is the birthplace Joe Louis Barrow, better known as boxing legend Joe Louis. A group of town leaders has been trying to raise the local profile of LaFayette's most famous former resident, but it's been a slow process.

LAFAYETTE, Ala. (AP) — Down a couple of skinny dirt roads, some six miles from downtown, behind a chain link fence surrounding a modest clapboard house, a sign notes the "Birthplace of Joe Louis."

You need good directions and some patience to find evidence that the late boxing legend was born in this east Alabama town near the Georgia border.

It's even news to some of the 3,000-plus residents.

"I heard he was from here the other day," 21-year-old Karlo Burton said, "but I didn't believe it."

It's true. He was born here in 1914 — Joe Louis Barrow was his birth name. Town leaders have been trying to raise the local profile of LaFayette's most famous former resident, but it's been a slow process.

An architect putting together a new courthouse building downtown wondered a few years ago if there was a local artist who might come up with something for the public entry plaza.

"I said, 'No, but we do have a local celebrity that was born here,'" District Judge Calvin Milford said. "When I told him (it was) Joe Louis, he said, 'You're kidding. I thought he was from Detroit.'"

It's a common mistake. Louis' family moved to Detroit when he was 10. His ties to that city are far more conspicuous.

The NHL's Detroit Red Wings play in Joe Louis Arena, known as "The Joe." Down the street from the arena is a 24-foot bronze arm and fist, sculpted in Louis' honor in the 1980s.

And in LaFayette, located about 80 miles east of Montgomery? They're working on it.

The immediate goal is a statue, then someday perhaps a Joe Louis museum, Milford said.

He said an Alabama sculptor has said the price tag for a Louis sculpture would be $50,000. In two years, the town has raised less than $10,000, the judge said. The statue would be slightly larger than life size and be erected outside the courthouse on U.S. 431, the main road through town.

Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis's legacy doesn't need much help nationally.

He successfully defended his heavyweight championship a record 25 times from 1937-49 before retiring, including a famed victory over German fighter Max Schmeling in a rematch of an earlier defeat. Louis is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and his son said a wreath-laying ceremony will be held there Wednesday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the boxer's death.

A memory refresher in Louis' hometown couldn't hurt. Like Burton, Dorothy Bell and several others were unable to answer the question: Do you know where Joe Louis was born?

"I know him, but I didn't know he was born here," said Bell, buying a few groceries before work.

His likely birthplace — not everyone agrees on this — was a ramshackle, four-room sharecropper's house on a parcel of land in decidedly unmountainous Buckalew Mountain. It's not easy to find. And beware the owner's Rottweiler if you do.

Milford is realistic about the site's allure for tourists.

"It's real out of the way," he said. "Even if you're passing through down 431 you're not going to go that far off the beaten path to see it."

Louis' family moved several times within the LaFayette area before heading to Detroit. His father, Munroe Barrow, a cotton picker, was committed to the Searcy State Hospital for the Insane in south Alabama when Louis was 2, dying there in 1959.

His mother, Lillie, later married Peter Brooks, and they moved to Detroit.

The boxer's son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., visited LaFayette doing research for a book he wrote on his father.

"It's a very important part of my father's history and our family's history," said Barrow, executive director of the nonprofit group The First Tee in Jacksonville, Fla.

There are still a number of Barrows around LaFayette.

Velma Barrow is only related by marriage, but she remembers it was a big event in LaFayette (pronounced luh-fet) whenever Louis fought. Plenty gathered at her house to listen on her father's Philco radio while others — black and white — huddled around another radio at Collins Drug Store.

"People back in those days were proud of that," she said. "There weren't too many people that had radios. All of us would gather around the radio and listen to the fight."

A local resident, Bobby Louis Finley, whose mother was a Barrow, said he'd like to see Louis get more recognition in his hometown.

"He was a great man and he deserves something," Finley said. "Everybody thinks he comes from Detroit."

The Chambers County Museum, located next to the town dump and across from the county jail, does have a section of one room devoted to Louis. It contains furniture that Louis bought for his mother's Detroit home, along with a variety of books and a framed list of his fights.

It's unclear whether Louis ever returned to his hometown. But he apparently never lost his fondness for the area.

Bill Robinson, a LaFayette native who still lives in his hometown, recalled interviewing Louis when he was a sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal.

They talked until 5 a.m., mostly about the region where both were born, Robinson said. He worried at first because he was keeping the heavyweight champion up all night talking.

"It finally dawned on me that Louis kept me up because he wanted to hear me say, 'Oak Bowery, Buckalew Mountain and Camp Hill'," Robinson said, referring to local communities.

Now, LaFayette is trying to reconnect with its famous son, something the Barrows welcome.

"My sense is that would be special for Alabama and it would certainly be special for our family," Joe Louis Barrow Jr. said.

Pavlik Looking For Title Shot

The NABF middleweight champion is looking for a WBC title fight Sept. 17.

From The Youngstown Vindicator

BOARDMAN — Youngstown middleweight Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik has spent the last six years waiting for his big chance.

He's about to get it.

Pavlik, the NABF middleweight champion, is guaranteed a WBC title fight by Sept. 17. Who he will fight hinges on the outcome of the June 17 fight between champion Jermain Taylor (25-0) and his top challenger, Ronald "Winky" Wright (50-3) in Memphis, Tenn.

"I've put my time in for the last six years," Pavlik said at Monday's Curbstone Coaches luncheon. "I can wait a couple more months.

"It'll be well worth it."

Ranked second in WBC

Pavlik (27-0, 24 KOs) is the WBC's second-ranked contender (behind Wright) and is ranked third by the WBO, fifth by the WBA and 11th by the IBF.

Pavlik's last fight was in October when he won the vacant NABF title with a 10th-round knockout of Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga. Pavlik may fight a tune-up bout at the end of May or the beginning of June — most likely out west — although nothing has been finalized.

Pavlik credits his win over Zuniga as a big factor in his success.

"That was my toughest fight by far," said Pavlik, who turned 24 on April 4. "That showed myself and my trainer that I have a lot of heart and guts.

"A lot of doors have opened up since then and it's put me in the good situation I'm in right now to fight for the title."

Like a lot of power punchers, Pavlik has struggled with injuries to his hands throughout his career. The long layoff has allowed his hands to heal, although his trainer, Jack Loew of the Southside Boxing Club, said it's always going to be a concern. To protect him, Loew has Pavlik spar with 20-ounce gloves.

"He's always going to have problems with [hand injuries]," Loew said. "But at this level, you're only going to fight three or four times a year.

"We do everything we can to protect him, but you just have to deal with it."

Unlikely to fight at Centre

Since the Chevrolet Centre opened last fall, many area boxing fans have wondered whether Pavlik will fight downtown. While Loew didn't rule it out, he said the main issue is the expense. If Pavlik fights downtown, all the costs are absorbed by the promoters (in Pavlik's case, Top Rank Boxing) rather than the Chevrolet Centre.

Since there's no adjoining hotel at the convocation center, the promoters would have to secure rooms for all the fighters on the card. They'd also have to cover food costs and any television costs if the fight is being televised. By comparison, Mountaineer Park covers all those costs, provides extra money and is only 45 minutes away.

"It's a no-brainer," Loew said. "Kelly really wants to fight at home and when he wins the title in September, he'd like nothing better than to come back for the holidays and fight here.

"But there are a lot of things to work out."

Loew's confidence about Pavlik's chances aside, the 160-pounder has to win the title first. He's excited to finally get the chance.

"As of right now, I've just got to sit back and wait," Pavlik said. "When I get my chance, I'll go in there and take care of business."

EXCLUSIVE: NICOLAI VALUEV, MY BEAST FRIEND

From The Mirror, UK

I AM nose to nose with the biggest-ever world heavyweight boxing champion and he's not happy.

At 7ft 2in and 24st, Nicolai Valuev is two feet taller than me and three times my weight.

The immense Russian fixes me with the terrifying stare usually saved for those unlucky enough to meet him in the ring. I almost fall off the table I am standing on.

"Tell her not to look me in the eye like that," he growls through his interpreter. "The only people who come that close to me are my wife and my coach. Anyone else, I want to hit."

I don't need telling twice - I've just watched him in the gym, where every huge punch is a bomb blast. But then the man they call the Beast of the East returns to gently help me from my table.

At 32, Valuev became Russia's first ever world heavyweight champion in December, wrenching the WBA crown from American John Ruiz. A mass of contradictions, he crushes other men's cheekbones for a living but writes poetry, reads Tolstoy and dotes on his tiny wife Galina and their three-year-old son Grisha.

We meet in the St Petersburg sports hall, where he trains. As he pulls up a seat, everything else in the room shrinks. His plastic cup becomes a thimble...

"The people who say I am the Beast from the East don't know me," he says firmly. "I am not a beast and I do not like this name." So I ask about little Grisha.

"He's already decided he wants to be a boxer and he is training," says Valuev, without a hint of irony. "They are a little worried at his nursery school."

He goes on: "I'll support him whatever he wants to do, as long as he is happy. When I think what life was like when I was growing up, I'm happy he has more opportunities."

Valuev has yet to make any serious money from his sport and he is still considered by the Americans to be something of a circus act. But things could be about to change and there is the possibility of a fight against the American Owen Beck on June 3 in Hanover, Germany.

And having twice fought in Britain, he's keen to come back. Asked which boxer he would most like to take on, Valuev has no hesitation in plumping for a British heavyweight legend.

"Lennox Lewis. It would be such an honour for me to be in the ring with him."

I ask him how he reacts when people put his success down to his size rather than his skills. With the weary expression, he says: "People will support the smaller man, but I know my boxing is getting better and I have the title to show for it. But I have other dreams."

"Such as?" I ask.

"I don't want to talk about them," he says. "But anything else I do in my life will be for the sake of the people close to me."

Nicolai Valuev. Good friend, dreadful enemy.

WHAT VALUEV'S OPPONENTS SAID

JOHN RUIZ: "The hardest part of the night will be helping to get him up. He has a head the size of a Volkswagen. I won't be able to miss." Ruiz endured 12 rounds with Valuev, but lost on points.

GERALD NOBLES: "I didn't want to stay in there with that man, that's the truth." Nobles admitted deliberately aiming at Valuev's knees to get himself disqualified.

LARRY DONALD: "He was able to make it look, just by his sheer size, that he was hitting me even when he wasn't. I've never seen a man like him, ever. He's like Neanderthal man." Donald lost to Valuev on another controversial points decision.

CLIFFORD ETIENNE: "Nobody told me I was taking on Bigfoot. I would rather walk home to America than get in the ring with him. The guy is not human." After the weigh-in, Etienne packed his bags and told his manager he was off. Having been persuaded to stay and fight, he was taken out in just three rounds.

Win or Lose, Grant Still A Champ

From The Gazette (Montreal)

I hesitated before tuning in to TVA's tape-delayed Gala de Boxe on Saturday afternoon, already knowing that a good and honourable man had been beaten in the Montreal Casino ring.

It wasn't that the curtain of suspense had been lifted, but more that, in my eyes, Otis Grant does not lose.

Not in the ring. Not in life.

Yet I did watch Grant against Librado Andrade, and then his remarkable performance afterward. What I'd have missed had I wasted time on a rainy Masters.

It seems likely Grant has fought his last meaningful bout. He's a former world champion who never truly got his due in a city whose boxing taste has long preferred an anglophone vs. a francophone, preferably both with pale skin and paler morals (see: Davey Hilton vs. Stephane Ouellet).

Grant's world title shot leaves Montreal in the dufflebag of Andrade, a respectful and finely skilled native of Mexico who should challenge Germany's Markus Beyer for the WBC's super-middleweight crown.

For 21 minutes on Saturday, Grant absorbed everything thrown at him by Andrade. On a corner stool after the seventh round, his right eye fused shut from Andrade's cement fists, Grant heeded the wise counsel of his brother and trainer, Howard.

"You've had a great career," Howard told him, and that was that.

Red Smith, the late Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist, once wrote of boxing: "The Sweet Science is a harsh mistress, and under her cruel rules the deadliest sin is to give up under punishment."

But in not answering the bell for Saturday's eighth round, there was neither sin nor lack of courage in Otis Grant.

He rose to take the house microphone and, in English and French, thanked his fans for their support over many years. He hugged Andrade and congratulated him on being the better fighter; in offering no excuses, he gave his foe full credit, graciously dialing up the glow of the victor's spotlight.

I have sat with Grant at a number of functions over the years, and we've spoken often. The two most special talks only casually intersected his boxing career.

The first was on Dec. 22, 1999, on the eve of his 32nd birthday and three weeks after the month-premature birth of his son, Andrew.

Grant took the call on a cellphone, while he was busy distributing tons of holiday food to Montreal's needy through the hastily formed Otis Grant and Friends Food Drive. The modest idea quickly grew to become his own charitable foundation.

Six months earlier, Grant lay in a coma, nearly killed in a car accident on the Laurentian Autoroute. Now, as he packed food hampers three days before Christmas, he explained that his precious gift of breath was life's way of telling him to help his city's less fortunate.

Sixteen months ago, we sat in a West Island cafe and discussed racial discrimination.

Grant had resisted dozens of opportunities to play the race card into bitterness and anger. We spoke of racial profiling, and of his having been regularly pulled over by police while driving his wife Betty's 1985 Firebird, for no apparent reason other than his complexion.

And we talked of his daughter, Alexandria, fairer of skin than he, who had returned home from school a few years earlier wearing a troubled look.

"She wanted to know if she was black or white," Grant said. "She was almost disappointed when we told her, because she had a lot of white friends. To her, being white was cool.

"We tried to tell her there's all kinds of people in our multicultural city, different religions, shades, ethnic backgrounds, and that she was going to have to learn to get along with everybody. I told her: 'This is who you are for the rest of your life. Be proud of who you are.'

"I tell my kids to be leaders, not followers. I've learned that you can't change who you are just to satisfy someone else."

We were politely interrupted that day by a few students Grant had taken under his wing as a guidance counselor at Lindsay Place High School, good kids who proudly mapped out for him their honest, productive roads.

"I'd like to be seen as just a good guy who tries to be successful," he said. "With children, especially, the prime example of role models should be their parents."

Grant saw things clearly that day, as he does still helping those in need, and as he did during Saturday's swollen blush of rare and crushing defeat.

Twenty-one minutes of boxing on Saturday proved that life isn't always what you want it to be. But it also showed that the champion isn't only the athlete whose arm is raised in victory.

Tarver irked by Hopkins' nerve

Fighter's step up in classification an 'insult' to king of light heavyweights

From The Houston Chronicle

Next month's Boardwalk tango between Bernard Hopkins and Antonio Tarver is being billed as the "Fight to the Finish."

No question, these are two of the best to wage war in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, respectively. Hopkins, "The Professor," has dominated for the past decade.

Though he lost to undefeated Jermain Tarver in his last fight and turned over the undisputed middleweight belt to the Arkansas native, Hopkins, 41, is headed for the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Tarver? His career hit a snag or two as an amateur who was good enough to bring home a bronze medal from the 1996 Olympics. But he's one of the best light heavyweights around.

Tarver is nearing the twilight of his career, however. For that reason, he eagerly awaits his meeting with Hopkins on June 10 in Boardwalk Hall at Atlantic City, N.J."Bernard Hopkins was a great fighter, but his time is past," Tarver said. "My time is now, and I take it as a personal insult that Hopkins would even consider coming up to light heavyweight to challenge me. I will punish him in the ring (under) the rules."

Naturally, Hopkins has a different slant.

"After everything I've accomplished in this sport," he said, "and with all the obstacles I had to go through to get here, I don't even entertain the thought of losing this final fight.

"I will win this fight over Antonio Tarver, cement my career in a fashion where no one will ever forget what I brought to the boxing ring."

No matter the outcome, few will soon forget the accomplishments of Hopkins, who after being jailed as a teen, came out swinging and became one of the best.

Hopkins has proclaimed this will be his final fight. He wanted to go out in even grander style, having established the record for most consecutive defenses (21) of the middleweight crown.

Taylor dumped a little water on his plans, though, taking it to the Philadelphia native last year and taking away the championship.

"Legacy is probably the most important thing to a true elite fighter," said Oscar De La Hoya. "Both Antonio and Bernard Hopkins have had amazing careers, but June 10 will directly affect how boxing fans remember them.

"That's a lot to have on your plate, but these two boxers can handle that pressure. It's Tarver and Hopkins, and I expect both of them to leave it all in the ring when they fight."

De La Hoya will fight Ricardo Mayorga of Puerto Rico in Las Vegas in May.

But he moonlights as head honcho for Golden Boy Promotions.

He and Hopkins, who fought each other two years ago, have hooked up in business outside the ring. De La Hoya is a co-promoter for Hopkins' last career fight. Hopkins is head of De La Hoya's Golden Boy East Promotions.

"Bernard Hopkins is one of the greatest middleweights of this era, facing perhaps the greatest challenge of his career in his final fight against the world's pre-eminent light heavyweight whose resounding wins over Roy Jones re-affirmed his stardom," said Mark Taffet, HBO senior vice president of operations and pay-per-view, which will carry the fight beginning at 8 p.m.

Hitting the speed bag
The news has been released: When the Grand Prix of Houston takes to the roadways in the Reliant Park Complex area next month, there will be a boxing card as a companion feature.

The boxing event takes place at 7 p.m. May 11 and will be produced by Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. The main event features Larry Mosley against three-time North American Boxing Federation champion Golden Johnson in a fight for the NABF welterweight title.

"We are thrilled to add this exciting lineup of boxing matches to the festivities at the Grand Prix of Houston," Robert Dale Morgan, executive director of the Grand Prix of Houston, said in a news release. "From the beginning, we have pledged to offer our fans 'more than just a race,' and we believe that this is a great example of that. With a festival of fan activities, races from champ car and American Le Mans, and a world-class boxing event, we're in for a great weekend."

Four other fights, all featuring up-and-coming boxers, are on the Grand Prix undercard. Tickets are on sale online at grandprixofhouston.com and ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 713-629-3700.

Tickets can also be purchased at the Reliant Stadium south box office and all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers.

The Grand Prix of Houston will run May 11-13 at Reliant Park.

For further information, go online at www.grandprixofhouston.com.

Cook-Diaz bout set
The negotiations are over and the final World Boxing Council eliminator in the featherweight division between Nicky Cook of Great Britain and Garmaliel Diaz of Mexico is set.

According to a release from the WBC, United Kingdom Presents of England will promote the event June 16 in London.

The bout had been headed for purse bid, but the two sides reached an 11th-hour agreement, negating the need for a purse bid.

Cardio show April 22
Next up on the local amateur schedule is the Cardio Boxing Show, to be held April 22 at 411 York in Conroe.

Show time is 2 p.m. Weigh-ins begin at 11 a.m. Call host James Reynd (936-672-1962) for information.

On April 23, the USA Boxing Gulf Association will host a coaches certification clinic at the headquarters of the Progressive Amateur Boxing Association.

The certification clinic begins at 9:30 a.m.

Call Gulf Association president Walt Hailed (281-488-5624) or PABA director the Rev. Ray Martin (713-520-9585) for information.

On the same weekend, the National Golden Gloves Championships will begin in Omaha, Neb. The tournament runs through April 30.

Upcoming Fights

courtesy of ESPN.com; predictions courtesy of MajorLeagueBoxing.com

April 12
At Leemore, Calif. (ESPN2): Paul Williams vs. Sergio Rios, 10 rounds, welterweights selection Williams

April 14
At Rancho Mirage, Calif. (ESPN2): Audley Harrison vs. Dominick Guinn, 10 rounds, heavyweights, selection Harrison

April 19
At Palm Beach, Fla. (ESPN2): David Estrada vs. Kermit Cintron, 12 rounds, welterweights, selection Cintron

April 22
At Mannheim, Germany (HBO): Chris Byrd vs. Wladimir Klitschko, rematch, 12 rounds, for Byrd's IBF heavyweight title, selection Klitschko

April 26
At Miami, Okla. (ESPN2): Allan Green vs. Anthony Bonsante, 10 rounds, super middleweights, selection Green

April 28
At Uncasville, Conn. (ESPN2): Samuel Peter vs. Julius Long, 10 rounds, heavyweights, selection Peter

At New Town, N.D. (Showtime): Lamont Peterson vs. Matthew Strode (20-1, 9 KOs), 10 rounds, junior welterweights; Anthony Peterson vs. Hector Munoz, 8 rounds, junior welterweights; selections Peterson and Peterson

April 29
At Mashantucket, Conn. (HBO): Acelino Freitas vs. Zahir Raheem, 12 rounds, for vacant WBO lightweight title; Andre Ward vs. Andy Kolle, 8 rounds, middleweights; selections Raheem and Ward

At Panama City, Panama: Roberto Vasquez vs. Noel Arambulet, 12 rounds, for Vasquez's WBA junior flyweight title

May 4
At Las Vegas (ESPN): Sergio Mora vs. Archak Ter-Meliksetian, 10 rounds, middleweights; Alfonso Gomez vs. Jesse Feliciano, 8 rounds, welterweights; Selections Mora and Gomez

May 6
At Las Vegas (HBO PPV): Ricardo Mayorga vs. Oscar De La Hoya, 12 rounds, for Mayorga's WBC junior middleweight title; Kassim Ouma vs. Marco Antonio Rubio, 12 rounds, junior middleweights; selections Mayorga, Ouma

At Worcester, Mass. (Showtime): Alejandro Garcia vs. Jose Antonio Rivera, 12 rounds, for Garcia's WBA super welterweight title; selection Garcia

At Tokyo: Eagle Kyowa vs. Rodel Mayol, 12 rounds, for Kyowa's WBC strawweight title

May 13
At Boston (HBO): Luis Collazo vs. Ricky Hatton, 12 rounds, for Collazo's WBA welterweight title; selection Hatton

May 18
At Hollywood, Fla. (PPV): Julio Diaz vs. Ricky Quiles, 12 rounds, for vacant IBF interim lightweight title; Selection Diaz

May 19
At Sydney, Australia: Anthony Mundine vs. Danny Green, 12 rounds, super middleweights; selection Green

May 20
At Los Angeles (HBO): Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Rocky Juarez, 12 rounds, for Barrera's unified junior lightweight title; Jorge Barrios vs. Janos Nagy, 12 rounds, for Barrios' WBO junior lightweight title; selections Barrera and Nagy

At Belfast: Scott Harrison vs. Joan Guzman, 12 rounds, for Harrison's WBO featherweight title; selection Guzman

May 27
At Carson, Calif. (HBO): Jhonny Gonzalez vs. Fernando Montiel, 12 rounds, for Gonzalez's WBO bantamweight title; Paul Williams vs. Walter Matthysse, 10 rounds, welterweights; Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Alejandro Barrera, 12 rounds, for De Leon's WBO junior featherweight title

June 3
At Las Vegas (Showtime): Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo, 12 rounds, for Corrales' WBC lightweight title; selection Castillo

At Germany: Nicolay Valuev vs. Owen Beck, 12 rounds, for Valuev's WBA heavyweight title; selection Valuev

June 10
At Atlantic City, N.J. (HBO PPV): Antonio Tarver vs. Bernard Hopkins, 12 rounds, for Tarver's Ring magazine light heavyweight title; selection Hopkins

At New York (PPV): Miguel Cotto vs. Paulie Malignaggi, 12 rounds, for Cotto's WBO junior welterweight title; Kevin Kelley vs. Bobby Pacquiao, 12 rounds, junior lightweights; John Duddy vs. Freddy Cuevas, 10 rounds, middleweights; Juan Manuel Lopez vs. TBA, 6 rounds, featherweights; Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. TBA, 6 rounds, junior welterweights; Tommy Zbikowski vs. TBD, 4 rounds, heavyweights; selections Cotto, Duddy

June 17
At Memphis, Tenn. (HBO): Jermain Taylor vs. Winky Wright, 12 rounds, for Taylor's unified middleweight titles

June 24
At Las Vegas (HBO): Calvin Brock vs. Timor Ibragimov, 12 rounds, heavyweights; Joel "Love Child" Julio vs. Carlos Quintana, 12 rounds, WBA welterweight eliminator; selection Ibragimov

July 15
At Las Vegas (HBO PPV): "Sugar" Shane Mosley vs. Fernando Vargas, rematch, 12 rounds, junior middleweights

July 22
At Atlantic City, N.J. (HBO): Carlos Balodimir vs. Arturo Gatti, 12 rounds, for Baldomir's Ring magazine/WBC welterweight title; selection Baldomir

Mayweather's Dominance Obscured by Antics

From AP Reports

Floyd Mayweather Jr. prides himself on being a gentleman boxer, and the world's best pound-for-pound fighter kept that reputation intact while winning the IBF welterweight title Saturday night.

Almost everybody else involved in his victory over Zab Judah will have to explain a whole lot of ungentlemanly behavior during a 10th-round melee in the ring that even stretched the limits of belief in an often unbelievable sport.

The Nevada Athletic Commission is expected to begin its review this week of a brawl between entourages after Judah hit Mayweather with two illegal blows. Marc Ratner, the NAC's outgoing executive director, will be responsible for yet another distasteful salvage job that might include fines and suspensions, but probably no change in the fight's results.

'I've never seen anything like that,' Ratner said simply.

Here's the blow-by-blow account:

Judah (34-4), the struggling former superstar, was losing the fight soundly when he punched Mayweather in the groin and the back of the head with about 5 seconds left in the 10th.

Roger Mayweather, the new champion's trainer and uncle, jumped into the ring to challenge and apparently choke Judah.

That's when Yoel Judah, the fighter's father and trainer, punched Roger Mayweather while spurring several more entourage members to charge the ring. Some tried to stop the fight, while others punched anything in sight.

Fans threw drinks and food at the stage, and those in the nearest seats crowded around the ring. For a few moments, a full-scale riot seemed possible in the Thomas and Mack Center crowd of 15,170.

Thanks to quick-thinking police officers and security forces who separated the combatants and stopped a full-scale ring invasion, order was restored during a five-minute rest period. The fighters finished the match without further incident, and Mayweather was crowned a champion in his fourth weight class.

Roger Mayweather, the former 140-pound champion known as the Black Mamba in his fighting days, will be in line for the stiffest punishment. During the fight, the trainer told Floyd Mayweather that he expected Judah to do something illegal during the late rounds when Mayweather's superior power and precision had him beaten.

That's exactly what happened, though Judah claimed he simply missed while trying to work Mayweather's body. Referee Richard Steele called a timeout after the blows, but said he didn't see the rabbit punch that put Mayweather on his knees.

Steele also decided not to end the fight when Roger Mayweather illegally charged the ring. The referee said Nevada rules leave that decision to his discretion, instead of the automatic disqualification urged by Don King, Judah's promoter.

'I understand we have rules and regulations that we have to enforce, but at the same time, what's the best thing?' Steele asked. 'For this fight to end on a disqualification, we felt it wasn't warranted. We kept the fight going. We gave the fans their money's worth. We took all the 'ifs' out of it.'

In all likelihood, officials won't overturn the results of an otherwise dominant, legitimate victory for Mayweather, who had a deservedly comfortable margin on all three judges' scorecards.

Judge Dave Moretti favored Mayweather 116-112, and Jerry Roth put Mayweather ahead 117-111. Glen Hamada gave only the final round to Judah, scoring it 119-109 in Mayweather's favor.

Mayweather's dominance was obvious in the punch stats: He landed 188 of his 404 punches (47 percent), while Judah managed to hit Mayweather with just 82 of his 444 punches (18 percent).

The punishment is likely to be financial, perhaps cutting into Mayweather's $5 million purse and Judah's $1 million earnings, and Roger Mayweather will face a suspension or another fine.

But Floyd Mayweather, the former rabble-rouser turned gentleman fighter, stuck up for his uncle - even when asked if he felt robbed of the chance to get the knockout he felt was coming shortly before the melee.

'Roger is always going to be my trainer,' Floyd Mayweather said. 'He's been great to me. I love my uncle, and it's not for me to speak of (possible punishments).'

HBO will replay the fight on Saturday night for boxing fans who didn't plunk down the $44.95 pay-per-view fee.

Diaz Stays Unbeaten With Win Over Cotto

From AP Reports

Juan Diaz returned to the ring with flair Saturday night, winning an entertaining unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Cotto to retain the WBA lightweight title.

Diaz, a 22-year-old college student from Houston, succeeded in the third defense of his title after a nine-month absence from the ring caused by injuries and business problems.

Diaz (29-0, 14 KOs) needed every bit of that rest to survive a frenetic fight with the previously unbeaten Cotto (27-1) on the undercard of Zab Judah's welterweight title defense against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the Thomas and Mack Center.

Cotto threw an astonishing 1,403 punches - the third-most ever recorded by the CompuBox stats system in a lightweight fight - but connected with just 14 percent as Diaz's toughness and resilience won out.

'I was happy with the way I fought,' Diaz said. 'My opponent was very brave. Every time I hit him with good combinations, he came right back.'

In the final fight before Mayweather met Judah, WBC flyweight interim champion Jorge Arce knocked out Rosendo Alvarez with a devastating left hook in the sixth round.

Diaz had fought just once since January 2005, including nearly nine months since his defense against Arthur Cruz last July. He spent more time in classes at the University of Houston than in the ring since then - but he quickly shook off the cobwebs.

'It was a little problem at the beginning,' Diaz said. 'I felt it in the first couple of minutes. It took me a while to get ready for him.'

Cotto, from Puerto Rico, is the brother of WBO junior welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who cheered from the corner when Diaz's flurries and sneaky head shots turned the fight in the champion's favor during the middle rounds.

Jose Cotto finally responded in the final two rounds, which turned into a slugfest - including an astonishing 282 combined punches in the 12th. Diaz could have danced away and protected his lead, but the champion waded in for several dynamite exchanges, including shots to the head for both.

'He's a very, very strong fighter,' Cotto said. He punches very hard. He's a good fighter.'

Arce and Alvarez traded insults before and during their fight, but Arce (44-3-1, 34 KOs) dropped Alvarez (37-3-2) to a knee with that nasty hook to the body 1:54 into the sixth. Alvarez couldn't make the 112-pound weight for the fight, turning it into a non-title bout, though that didn't matter to Arce.

'I didn't want a knockout in the first round,' Arce said. 'I wanted to really hurt and punish him. Everyone told me how tough he was, but I never felt his power.'

Earlier on the card, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (25-0-1) beat the latest in a string of overmatched opponents, stopping Tyler Ziolowski of St. Joseph, Mo., in the second round. Vanes Martirosyan, the welterweight on the U.S. Olympic team in Athens, improved to 8-0 as a pro with a second-round TKO of Tefo Seetso.

Mayweather and Judah's Purses held and suspensions to the trainers

Mayweather Wins; Ringsiders Lose It
Fighter's uncle goes into ring in 10th round of welterweight title bout against Judah, igniting a brawl. Purses suspended pending a hearing.

From The L.A. Times:

LAS VEGAS — There were tempers exploding, wild punches thrown, bodies tumbling and beer flying in the ring Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Arena.

And the fighters themselves weren't even directly involved.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. won a unanimous decision over Zab Judah to capture Judah's International Boxing Federation welterweight title.

But the purses of both fighters (Mayweather $5 million, Judah $1 million) were suspended and Roger Mayweather, Floyd's uncle, was kicked out of his nephew's corner and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after entering the ring with five seconds remaining in the 10th round, igniting a brawl involving figures from both camps. Roger was responding to a low blow thrown by Judah.

Don King, Judah's promoter, said he would file a protest with the commission.

"Mayweather should have been disqualified," King said. "The fighter had a third man in the ring. That is unheard of. The third man was chasing my fighter around. That is unheard of."

Judah said Roger Mayweather was choking him until Judah's father, Yoel, also entered the ring and threw a punch at Roger.

Chaos ensued. Members of both camps poured over the ropes and some police entered the ring in response, while others formed a human wall outside the ropes to prevent additional supporters from becoming participants.

When order was finally restored, Roger Mayweather was escorted from the ring and a five-minute break was ordered to allow emotions to subside.

After the fight, Marc Ratner, the commission's executive director, said a decision on a disqualification is at the referee's discretion, and referee Richard Steele did not deem a disqualification proper at the time of the incident.

In addition, Ratner said, because Steele called a timeout after the low blow, Roger Mayweather's entrance into the ring was not a violation.

The matter will be discussed further at a hearing scheduled Thursday.

Floyd Mayweather had started the fight slowly, allowing Judah to take an early lead. But then Mayweather came on strong, bloodying Judah's nose and mouth and clearly assuming command as the fight wore on.

"That was our game plan," Mayweather said. "We know he is a front-runner. He goes the first six rounds, then gases out."

As the end of the 10th round neared, with Judah's mouth and nose bloodied and his energy seemingly sapped, the only question seemed to be whether he would finish the fight.

Then came the low blow, which caused Mayweather to hunch over and stagger around the ring.

"I was aiming for the body," Judah said. "I didn't plan to hit Floyd low."

Said Mayweather: "Roger told me earlier in the week that Judah might do something dirty, and that if he did, Roger would go into the ring."

After the mayhem had ended, the fighters returned to the ring for the remaining five seconds of the 10th, but did little more than stare at each other.

The last two rounds were largely uneventful except for the start of the 12th when both men hugged before resuming hostilities.

All three judges gave Mayweather a clear victory — Dave Moretti 116-112, Jerry Roth 117-111 and Glen Hamada 119-109.

Assuming the victory stands after the protest is heard, Mayweather (36-0, 24 knockouts) will have a title in a fourth weight category after having previously been a super-featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight champion. The loss was the second straight for Judah (34-4, 25). He lost the undisputed welterweight title to Carlos Baldomir in January but, because Baldomir didn't pay the sanctioning fees to the IBF, Judah was able to again defend that portion of the title.

And if the protest is upheld, he'd get yet another chance.

In a title match involving previously unbeaten fighters, World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion Juan Diaz (29-0, 14) successfully defended his title by winning a unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Cotto (27-1, 19).

Jorge Arce (44-3-1, 34) defended his World Boxing Council interim flyweight title by knocking out Rosendo Alvarez (36-3-2, 24) at 1:54 of the sixth round. Rosendo went down from a left hook to the body, rose to one knee, but remained in that position as referee Vic Drakulich counted him out.

The King And His Sport At Twilight from Forbes Magazine

The Numbers Man and His Numbers

Over $1 billion

Total boxing revenue

$110 million

Largest grossing fight (Tyson vs. Holyfield, 1997)

113

Total boxers currently represented

$70 million

Largest annual salary, 1996

$350 million

Estimated net worth

From Forbes Magazine

Don King perfected and personifies boxing's outlaw economy. He dreams of backing one last great fighter.

No one knows the names of fighters anymore.

Kids in schoolyards don't mimic the Champ; women in beauty salons don't swoon over the latest Sugar of the ring. It has been years since fans witnessed a historic bout in the making. Purists of the sport dubbed "the sweet science" by English writer Pierce Egan in the early 1800s now make do dissecting great fights from decades ago and great fighters who, if not dead, are withered remnants of their once beautiful selves. These days heavyweight belts change hands in obscure bouts staged on a Saturday night, and come Sunday morning few people realize, or even care, that a new champion has emerged.

But one name in boxing is recognized by dilettantes and fanatics alike. Fittingly, that name is King.

On a crisp January afternoon in New York, promoter Don King emerges from the bowels of Madison Square Garden and draws a crowd of normally blasé New Yorkers who jockey to get a peek at his trademark light-socket hairdo that has now grown white and stringy. Clad in a sequined, red-white-and-blue denim jacket emblazoned with his hackneyed slogan, "Only in America," he is here to promote a lineup of fights the following night. No one even notices as a dozen professional boxers spill out onto the street behind him.

"It's going to be exciting!" King says as he postures for the press. "It's going to be provocative! It's going to be beautiful! You are going to see fights made in boxing heaven!" He has said this a thousand times before. Does he mean it as much as he used to?

The Garden has played host to some of the great fights in boxing's history, and King, 74, remembers many of them, from the Joe Louis vs. Rocky Marciano classic in 1951 to the matchup of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier 20 years later in the "Fight of the Century"--which King heard on the radio, while serving time in prison. In 33 years he has staged at least 600 championship bouts and raked in $1 billion in boxing revenue, producing seven of the ten largest pay-per-view events in history. He has amassed a $350 million fortune doing it.

But boxing is in deep peril, and King--according to your point of view, either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to the sport--wants to rescue it. Pay-per-view revenue, which totaled $168 million from the three largest fights of 1996, when the sport was peaking financially, faded to $66 million from last year's three top bouts; tickets sales for the top-three fights of 2005 totaled $13 million, a 58% drop from the top three of 1996.

Even a reality show on NBC--The Contender, hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard and Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone--didn't help; it got canceled after one season. By contrast, a reality series for Ultimate Fighting Championship, whose bare-knuckled, full-contact fights draw legions of young viewers, soon begins its third season on Viacom’s Spike TV channel; Nevada's top boxing regulator has just quit to join UFC.

The Numbers Man and His Numbers

Over $1 billion
Total boxing revenue
$110 million
Largest grossing fight (Tyson vs. Holyfield, 1997)
113
Total boxers currently represented
$70 million
Largest annual salary, 1996
$350 million
Estimated net worth

Boxing's biggest problem--and Don King's ready-made solution--lies in the fact that it hasn't found a flamboyant and dangerous new heavyweight champion since Mike Tyson went to prison (for the first time) in 1992. Heavyweights drive the entire sport, but can you name the champ today? Late last year King himself controlled four heavyweight champs in four rival organizations, but none came close to replacing Tyson.

"Boxing has to find another star," says King. "I'm in constant search, but whoever finds him, I'm the one who will make him a star. I'm the diamond-polisher."

"Boxing needs fighters who excite people," says Tyson, now 39, retired and living in Arizona. "You have to be their fantasy. You have to be their soap opera."

Since Tyson's exit in 1997, after a disqualification for biting Evander Holyfield's ear, the sport has been better known for one-round letdowns, mismatches, bums and embarrassments. Even Don King Productions, in Deerfield Beach, Fla., has felt the effects of boxing's decline. It recently scaled back on office staff by 40% to 30 full-time employees. King also keeps on his roster 113 fighters in myriad weight classes from 27 countries. Dozens of them train and live at a barracks-style camp owned by King in rural Ohio.

He has high hopes for a few of his fighters, especially Ricardo Mayorga, a 154-pounder who is preparing to face Oscar (The Golden Boy) De La Hoya, who at age 33 is the most financially successful boxer in the sport today.

Outside Madison Square Garden a couple more of King's brightest prospects go unnoticed by the people crowding around the promoter. Jean-Marc Mormeck, 33, is a 200-pound cruiserweight from France; Zab Judah, 28, is a Brooklyn-bred, gazellelike welterweight at less than 150 pounds. Both are slated for bouts at the Garden the next night. Mormeck, with a few devastating victories--and maybe 15 extra pounds--might remake himself into the heavyweight star that King longs for.

Even then, however, King's quest may fall short because of a quirk of capitalism: Too much competition makes it harder than ever to create a new superstar. There isn't a monopolistic league, as there is in baseball or basketball. Fights are overseen by an alphabet soup of a dozen or so rival sanctioning bodies, seven of them widely recognized--the WBA, the WBC, the IBF, the WBO and more; and anyone can set up a new one, anytime. Each group has up to 20 weight classes, yielding 200 different champions at one time. Currently five different punchers lay claim to five different World Heavyweight Champion titles, and two other major titles are vacant. In 1975, when Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier in their third classic matchup, the King-staged "Thrilla in Manila," just two sanctioning bodies held sway. Ali was the only heavyweight champ.

"The title of champ is diluted," says top boxing manager Shelly Finkel. "You can be a champ, but it doesn't mean anything."

Don King has spent his life feinting, slipping and hustling his way from the streets of Cleveland, where as a young man in the 1950s he was known as Cadillac Slim, ran a nightclub and operated a daily numbers racket before lotteries were legalized. Some years ago the late promoter Dan Duva met with King and marveled at his ability to rattle off the telephone number of every person whose name came up. "You're pretty good with those numbers," Duva told him. "It used to be my business," King replied.

Mark Greenberg, a former Showtime Networks suit who has negotiated with King, says the man has an uncanny mastery of financial details. "No matter how many times the deal changes, Don knows every number," he says. Alex Yemenidjian, former president of MGM Grand, says King "could have been chief executive officer of a major corporation. He's as smart as anyone."

By the time King struck it rich, he had killed two men. One was a burglar whom King shot in 1954, in what was ruled justifiable homicide. The other was a fellow small-time street hustler who allegedly owed King a few hundred dollars. King, who insists he was defending himself once again, stomped the man to death in 1966 and served not quite four years in prison for manslaughter.

He was virtually unknown when in 1974 he guaranteed a then unprecedented $10 million purse to Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for a fight in Zaire, one of the great fights of all time. King was such a salesman that he persuaded Ali to let him promote the fight, then talked Foreman into signing a blank sheet of paper so King could fill in details of the contract later.

In 1979 King brought the fledgling HBO pay-TV channel its first heavyweight fight and three years later sold another bout to the network for $2 million, putting the now huge

Mayorga: De La Hoya 'is going to pay'

Rivera's fired manager sues, seeking one-third of future purses

The Associated Press