Comeback or Not????

The tweet, “Bozella wins and has inspired me to make a comeback!!!!” came from Oscar De La Hoya last night during the once and a lifetime story of Dewey Bozella. Let’s not forget the tweet from September 27 “It's so sad mayweather has to bash people and flaunt money he's not going to when he retires.give Ortiz a rematch.try beat him fair... And then maybe just maybe i will give you a mother chance at me.” Oscar corrected mother with another but we all knew what he meant. Ever since De La Hoya retired most thought he would eventually get back in the ring as a fighter although he has sworn he wouldn’t. When confronted with his challenge of Mayweather, Oscar backed down saying no chance at a comeback. However with the rate that comeback, or hints of a comeback, is coming from Oscar personally, one has to wonder. It’s not like a boxer has said he was retired and came back before, right?

As I wrote close to a year ago, Why Golden Boy Needs the Golden Boy Back in the Ring, Golden Boy has no huge PPV attractions. Bernard Hopkins was never a true PPV star and Mosley and Marquez have both moved on chasing Pacquiao. Mayweather is not a Golden Boy fighter; he just uses their services to help him out. Golden Boy has not developed any PPV stars at this time and they desperately need one. Although Golden Boy has some great fighters in their roster, they need PPV stars to generate more revenue. So what would be bigger for Golden Boy than a return of the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De La Hoya? De la Hoya is proven PPV star and after his recent admissions of faults people would rush to see him fight again. The admirers as well as the haters will both tune in to see what De La Hoya has left which will generate lots of revenue. Also with the high rate of PPVs, it can generate plenty of exposure for other up and coming stars on the Golden Boy roster.

Close to three years since his last fight and over three years since his last victory what could we expect from the 38 probably 39 year old De La Hoya by the time he fights if he fights again? Has his injuries been healed and his body rested? What effects has the years of cocaine done to his body since he retired? Even with all of the questions that surround De La Hoya’s possible return, one thing for certain is people will watch. So should we say the Oscar De La Hoya Sweepstakes is back on? Who will Oscar fight? What weight will he fight at? Who will be Oscar’s trainer? Let the questions begin and as time comes and goes all of these answers will be revealed. But no matter what the answers are, when Oscar De La Hoya walks in the ring, millions will be watching.

10 Random Questions

1. Who cares if David Haye retires?
2. Is there a trend or just a coincidence that two fighters left Emanuel Steward within weeks apart?
3. Should random blood and urine be required for all major fights?
4. Did anyone notice the base price of PPV fights has moved to $54.95?
5. Why do fighters still sign with Don King?
6. Will the Super Six World Boxing Classic ever end?
7. Who held Richard Schaefer hostage when Oscar De La Hoya and Victor Ortiz had that conference call?
8. Will Victor Ortiz ever tell the truth about his family background?
9. How many more lives does Kermit Cintron have?
10. Does anyone take Kimbo Slice seriously?

10 Random Questions

1. Does anyone care to see a rematch of Hopkins-Dawson?
2. Will Evander Holyfield ever retire?
3. Will Oscar De La Hoya ever stop contradicting himself?
4. Did anyone see or care about those pictures of John Ruiz in drag?
5. Will Ken Hershman moving to HBO be better for HBO?
6. Can Kelly Pavlik regain his fans and championship form?
7. How did Hasim Rahman become #1 in the WBA?
8. Will Luis Collazo be relevant again?
9. Is Joshua Clottey still living like a king in Ghana?
10. Where can I get a refund for Hopkins-Dawson and Hopkins-Jones Jr.?

Pacquiao-Mosley: Business First And Fans Somewhere Down The Line

Many fans all over the world are upset because Manny Pacquiao will face Shane Mosley May 7, 2011. Pacquiao, considered to be the best boxer in the world, is coming off a dominating win over Antonio Margarito in November to claim the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight title. After a failed attempt to land a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao and his promoter Top Rank were forced to find another opponent. The options for opponents were, Andre Berto, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Shane Mosley. Andre Berto, the WBC welterweight champion, has yet to face any serious competition and is unknown to everyone except die hard boxing fans. The lack of public recognition makes the fight with Berto a tough sale even for the extremely popular Manny Pacquiao. Fight fans seem to clamor for a third fight between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez because of the closeness of their first two fights which ended in a draw in 2004 and a split decision win for Pacquiao in 2008. However outside of boxing fans Marquez is not widely known which does not translate into a huge profit. The only option left for Pacquiao, Sugar Shane Mosley, had a rough 2010 after getting thoroughly dominated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May and fighting to a boring and disappointing draw with Sergio Mora in September. But so what, who cares?

Remember how many people were upset about Pacquiao fighting Antonio Margarito, the guy many believe purposely loaded his gloves to cheat? There were all kinds of talks on Facebook and Twitter among many other websites and social media outlets from fans about boycotting the fight. One fan emailed me saying Pacquiao-Margarito was a horrible fight and would kill the sport of boxing. With all of the negative talk about that fight you would’ve thought only a hundred people would attend the fight and even less would watch it on television. After it was all said and done Pacquiao-Margarito had over 40,000 people in attendance at Cowboy Stadium and sold over one million PPVs which is pretty good for a fight no one wanted to see.

Pacquiao-Mosley was not a highly demanded fight by the fans, but it is the most profitable fight at this time for each fighter and Top Rank. Mosley, a future hall of famer and a three division champ, has fought and beaten many of the great fighters of his era. He has fast hands, a strong chin, great knockout power, and has never been knocked out. He comes to fight no matter who the opponent is and always goes for the knockout. Mosley brings a recognizable name, a great resume, and more money and star power than any other fighter available not named Floyd Mayweather Jr. Many argue that Mosley does not deserve a fight with Pacquiao based on his last two fights, but again who cares?

Star power is the only reason George Foreman got his chance to knockout Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion ever. Foreman had been inactive for over a year and was dominated in his previous fight. Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, and Muhammad Ali are also great examples of fighters with star power who got chances not demanded, but the public always tuned in to see fight. Top Rank is in the business of making money by promoting fights not pleasing every fan by promoting fights. What we have to remember is boxing, like all companies, is business first then fans somewhere down the line. Just like I heard in a rap song, “if it don’t make dollars it don’t make sense,” well the same goes for boxing. Pacquiao-Mosley is going to make dollars, so despite what fans say it still makes sense.

Got the KO, But What Is Next For Sergio Martinez?

After witnessing the KO of the year from Sergio Martinez one would believe he is guaranteed to get a mega fight. Well maybe not so quick. After beating Kelly Pavlik and taking the Middleweight title, Martinez had a hard time getting another fight. After Pavlik turned down the option for an immediate rematch, many names were tossed around but HBO only wanted to see Martinez fight a rematch with Paul Williams. Williams and his camp seemed very slow to sign on for the rematch with Martinez. After HBO basically said you two fight a rematch or don’t fight again this year the deal got done. So the rematch took place this past weekend on HBO. After what many considered to be one of the best fights of 2009, many were expecting that type of fight again in the rematch. However Martinez, who felt like the decision last year was taken from him, decided to become his own judge when he landed a clean vicious left hook to the face of Paul Williams. The once self-proclaimed most avoided fighter went down face first with his eyes open but no movement. It was at that time Sergio Martinez proved he was a true boxing star and a force to be reckoned with. But who or what is next for Sergio Martinez?

The options for Sergio Martinez are not as plentiful as he would like. The first two names that come up whenever a huge fight is mentioned are Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Both would have to move up in weight to fight Martinez who would be the naturally bigger and stronger man. Mayweather could claim a title in his 6th division if he won and Pacquiao could claim a title in his 9th division if he won. The history is there for both fighters if they won, but is the risk of fighting Martinez too great for both men? Martinez is not going to be the easy picking made to order fighter both fighters have been accustomed to fighting in recent years. Martinez is not slow and against moving his head in order to not get hit like Ricky Hatton and Antonio Margarito. Martinez is in good condition and wouldn’t be fighting in a weight division he doesn’t belong in like Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya. Martinez is not weight drained and full of ring rust like Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley. Martinez is the legit middleweight champion and he does not plan on just laying down for the sake of saying he lost to either Mayweather or Pacquiao. He is not coming just to get a payday and moving on. Sergio Martinez wants to show he is the best fighter in the world and I’m not sure Mayweather or Pacquiao really wants to see him in the ring.

Martinez has even stated he would fight at super middleweight for the right deal; however most of the best of the division is tied up with the Super Six World Classic and Lucian Bute just signed a deal with HBO rival network Showtime. Felix Sturm and Sebastian Slyvester, two of the other middleweight titlists are not big draws in the United States and I doubt either would want to fight Martinez. Both are content holding their belts hostage in their country and making good money fighting mandatories and bums. The only middleweight titlist left is WBO middleweight titlist Dmitri Pirog, who KOd young prospect Danny Jacobs to claim the vacant title in July. Pirog essentially came out of nowhere and KOd Danny Jacobs sending a shock through the middleweight division. A fight between Martinez and Pirog would be an action pack fight but it still wouldn’t net Martinez the super payday he deserves. However, with a new year coming up and a fresh budget, HBO should be able to muster up a good payday for Sergio Martinez. It would be nice to see HBO give a Lou Dibella fighter, not named Berto, a great payday that he actually earned and deserves. Well the pressure is on HBO because Martinez has done everything asked of him and more. Martinez fought the rematch HBO begged for against the reluctant Paul Williams and scoring the KO of the year. Martinez supposedly took the shorter end of the money as well. Not to mention he was placed in the opponent’s corner during the fight and announced first which is total disrespect to the champion. Even through all of the disrespect Martinez remained humble and professional while getting the job done. Now he deserves to be treated like the champion he is. The only question that remains is what is next for Sergio Martinez?

Why Golden Boy Promotions Needs The Golden Boy Back In The Ring?

As the rumor and of course the denial of Oscar De La Hoya coming out of retirement has arisen in the last few days many ask is it a good move. For the future of Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya needs to fight soon. De La Hoya was and still remains the biggest pay per view attraction in our time. Even though he lost most of the major fights he had on PPV, he still managed to draw huge PPV ratings. However, for Golden Boy he was their biggest star with no one in their roster to replace even half of the revenue he could generate.

The biggest stars on Golden Boy; Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, and Juan Manuel Marquez are each future hall of famers but not PPV stars. People will point out they did over a million PPV buys for Floyd Mayweather Jr.- Shane Mosley, but most of the money went to Mayweather. Mayweather was the attraction, not Mosley as was shown in the horrible PPV numbers for his fight with Sergio Mora. Also Mosley is trying to land a fight with Manny Pacquiao and is stating he is a free agent. Bernard Hopkins had a huge disappointing fight as well as even more disappointing PPV buys for his way over the hill fight against Roy Jones Jr. Hopkins has never been a big PPV draw and with his style of boxing, he will never become a demand on PPV. Marquez had a million PPV buy fight last year, but again that was against Floyd Mayweather Jr. who is not signed to Golden Boy. Marquez’s PPV fight with Juan Diaz put up lackluster numbers and was highly overlooked. The rest of the stars on Golden Boy are either not PPV main event worthy or don’t pull in big ratings. The number one attraction is Floyd Mayweather Jr. and he just uses Golden Boy to set up his fights since Mayweather Promotions is not a legalized promotional company. Golden Boy rival Top Rank has Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and may soon be using Shane Mosley against some of their fighters. These fighters have all been used interchangeably with other fighters in the Top Rank roster to put up high PPV numbers for the budget. So who does Golden Boy have lying around who could blow life back into their PPV revenue easily…the owner himself Oscar De La Hoya.

De La Hoya was boxing’s biggest attraction win or lose before he retired in April 2009. For all of the De La Hoya haters, he had plenty of fans and made a lot of money for a lot of different fighters. If you fought De La Hoya you became more marketable especially if you beat him. The fights De La Hoya had with Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao single handedly turned them both into PPV attractions that drew over one million PPV buys. The charm and charisma De La Hoya had always drew in the fans. After his horrible loss to Pacquiao, you know the competitive spirit of De La Hoya is not sleeping well with that loss. His company has no huge attraction on the roster and he is still able to at least give a decent fight. He is the best chance under the Golden Boy banner to meet or exceed the PPV numbers of Manny Pacquiao. The curiosity of boxing fans everywhere would tune in to see what the Golden Boy has left especially with all of the publicity and promotion his fight would get.

The proposed comeback fight for De La Hoya is against recently fallen of grace fighter Ricky Hatton. Hatton, who has had issues with drugs and infidelity come to the public eye in recent months, would be a huge attraction to fight against. Hatton’s England following is a force to be reckon with as they sing and chant for Hatton through his entire fight. They travel by the thousands to the U.S. for Hatton’s fights and love their champ to the end. If De La Hoya and Hatton could meet at Wemberly Stadium in England, the fight could draw 100,000 fans and be a huge PPV attraction in both England and the U.S. The fact that Golden Boy is also Hatton’s U.S. promoter, Golden Boy promotions will cash in like a casino during fight week in Vegas. If both fighters look competitive, they will milk themselves into another PPV attraction in the future. Remember money talks and when the name Oscar De La Hoya comes up in a fight you better believe the money will be screaming. I can hear it loud and clear, can you?

Time to Take a Stand!

As I am watching Manny Pacquiao destroy Antonio Margarito I keep thinking, this is not the fight I really want to see. Yes I paid for it and I am watching it, but I don’t care to see this. The fight I would rather see is Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. I am by far not the only one who felt this way on Saturday night. Yes Pacquiao was beating up a bigger man, but I saw that beatdown coming from light years away. Most of us have followed the recent career of Pacquiao and his rise up the weight division kicking ass and taking names later, but the one fight we all crave for just can’t seem to happen. But why hasn’t it happened? It has not happened because of a blood test, yes a blood test. Sounds silly doesn’t it? Oh but why is that the reason?

Well Mayweather has strong belief in his heart that Pacquiao is taking something illegal in the sport of boxing in order to move up in weight so fast and not lose any effects. To some it sounds like jealousy, but to many others it sounds like a legit concern. Mayweather has requested that Pacquiao as well as anyone he fights in the future submit to Olympic style drug testing. Olympic style drug testing includes no predetermined amount of random blood and urine samples up till the day of the fight. It is not part of the standard state commissions’ tests which include pre and post fight urine samples. It is a request of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Earlier this year Shane Mosley agreed to the test before his fight with Mayweather and there were no complaints. However Pacquiao has refused. We have heard the excuses from the Pacquiao camp, Manny is scared of needles. Manny does not like to see his blood drawn and he feels the loss of blood will make him weak. The only thing weak in these excuses are the excuses themselves. Manny has multiple tattoos and as far as him feeling the loss of blood will make him weak, I’ve seen him bleed a lot in his fights and he still wins. Despite what certain people say, Pacquiao and his camp have yet to agree to random tests all the way up to the fight.

Now let’s look at this from another perspective. This past weekend the Pacquiao camp suspected Margarito of taking an illegal substance in the locker room before the fight. The demand the Pacquiao camp immediately made at that moment was a pre-fight drug test. Now many will say they had reason to suspect Margarito and they didn’t want Pacquiao to be endangered in the fight. I agree, but Mayweather feels the same way in regards to Pacquiao. Mayweather and Pacquiao are considered to be the two best boxers in the world and therefore they are looked upon as leaders. As a leader you are called upon to begin new trends and set examples for the good of all who follow after you. Pacquiao himself should understand that concept since he is a Congressman in the Philippines and hopes to be the President. Leaders make sacrifices to set precedents in the future for others who follow in their footsteps. Leaders do what is right. Sports, boxing included, has issues with athletes using illegal substances in order to gain a competitive edge and honestly it will never end. However, it is the job of the commission to stay on top of the drug testing in order to prevent those things from happening. Unfortunately they can’t get it right every time and to many fans and fighters they are failing us. So it is up to the fighters to take a stand and say lets help the sport we love by going the extra mile.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has begun to take a stand to try and clean up the sport.People will say he is using it to duck Pacquiao and you know what that could be true. However, look at the positives from what he is doing which is putting fighters on notice that we need to step up to the plate and do our part. Mayweather is not saying others take the test and he will not. He is asking his opponents to take the tests as well as himself. Despite all the negative press he has received for many things, his stance on this matter is the quality of a leader. I’m not accusing Pacquiao or anyone else of using anything illegal, but I am saying we need our leaders in the sport to take a stand. If you are clean you should not have any issues taking random drug tests. So to Manny Pacquiao, eight division world champion, take a stand and agree to the random drug testing so I and others can be blessed with the biggest fight of our time, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao.

Does The Road Warrior Have One More Road To Cross?

Big money, he is there. Short money, he is there. In the U.S., he is there. Outside of the U.S., he is there. Several months notice, he is there. Short notice, he is there. Never gives less than his all, that is him. In a boxing world where many fighters use money and promoters as an excuse not to make fights, this man never turns down a fight. This guy once gave an honest assessment of himself stating "I'm not the best. I'm just the guy willing to fight the best." Who is it that I speak of; none other than the Road Warrior Glen Johnson. Whenever you hear the name Glen Johnson, you know you are in for a good fight against a fighter who won't quit. He has been there and done that, taken the good and the bad in a career that has spanned over 17 years. After his last fight against Tavoris Cloud that saw Johnson take Cloud through hell before losing UD, you began to think you may not see the 41 year old Johnson again. However like the saying goes, you can't keep a good man down. In the past few days reports are saying the Road Warrior is being considered as a replacement for Mikkel Kessler in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. The tournament put together by Showtime features six of the best Super Middlweights(168lb)in the world. For over nine years, Johnson has been fighting in the Light Heavyweight (175lb) division where he was a former champion and 2004 Fighter of the Year. Where most fighters would say they probably can't make the weight after years outside of the weight division, Johnson says no problem. If accepted into the tournament, Johnson would fight Allan Green as soon as November 6th. The tournament is based on points; 3 points for a KO win, 2 points for a decision win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. Green, the replacement for Jermain Taylor, lost his fight against tournament point leader Andre Ward giving him a total of 0 points. Johnson would not assume the 2 points that Kessler was awarded for his win against Carl Froch. With Green and Johnson both having 0 points, a win could advance either fighter to the Semi-Finals depending on the results of the other Stage 3 fights. Although the odds would be stacked against Johnson, he still has a chance to win the whole tournament.Where most fighters would view this as a waste of time, Glen Johnson sees this as an opportunity to prove he still belongs among the elite. For Glen Johnson the Road Warrior, he feels his work is never done as long as there is one more road to cross.If rumors are correct, it appears the next road for him to cross is against Allan Green in Stage 3 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

Been Down, But Can He Bounce Back Up?

When you think of Sugar Shane Mosley, you think of a true warrior in the ring and a gentleman outside of it. A fighter who is willing to fight anyone and give his all the entire fight. Mosley is strong, fast, and always goes for the KO. However after his last two fights, a decisive decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and a dismal draw to Sergio Mora last week, many think the end is here for the future Hall of Fame fighter. But is it???

After blazing up the lightweight and welterweight ranks by winning his first 38 fights, mostly by KO, Mosley ran into an old amateur foe in Vernon Forrest. Forrest handed Mosley the first knockdown and loss of his career. Mosley who never backs down, had an immediate rematch with Forrest and again was defeated by UD. After back to back losses, Mosley had a NC against Raul Marquez. After going over 2 years without a win, Mosley bounced back in the win column in a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. It was a good win for Mosley and showed many that Sugar Shane Mosley was still a force in the boxing game. Never one to back down from a challenge, Mosley challenged Winky Wright to unify the Junior Middleweight division. Wright the naturally bigger man, proved to be too big, strong, and akward for Mosley. As always, Mosley could not deal with the defeat and took an immediate rematch with Wright again losing a decision. The warrior in Mosley didn't complain, he simply went back to what he knew. Mosley got back in the gym and popped up on the undercard of an ESPN PPV fight where he fought David Estrada. It was not the HBO headlining fights Mosley had become accustomed to, but it was the sacrifice the warrior in Mosley was willing to do to rise back to the top. Another win against a relative unknown in Jose Luis Cruz, helped set Mosley up for a HBO PPV headliner against the always popular Fernando Vargas. Mosley got in shape and ended up winning back to back fights both by TKO against Vargas. Once again Mosley was back near the top of the Pound 4 Pound lists. In 2007, Mosley got another HBO PPV headliner against then undefeated WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto. Mosley lost a close decision to Cotto, but many believed Mosley did enough to win. In September 2008, Mosley went back to Junior Middleweight and scored a spectacular last second KO of Ricardo Mayorga. The win against Mayorga set Mosley up for one of the biggest wins in his career against Antonio Margarito. Margarito was considered to be the #1 welterweight after TKOing Miguel Cotto in July 2008. Mosley, the underdog, came to win that January night. When he walked into the ring you could feel his determination to prove he was still the best in the world. Mosley stopped the iron chinned Margarito in nine rounds.

After not being able to land a quality fight and having a fight against Andre Berto fall through, Mosley finally got his big chance. Mosley got the biggest fight in boxing, against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Many viewed Mosley as possibly the biggest test of Mayweather's career. However after 15 months out of the ring and being 38 years of age people had their concerns. Mosley appeared to be in great shape and fought well for the first two rounds before being dominated the rest of the way. The warrior in Mosley did not let the loss get to him as he quickly agreed to go back up to Junior Middleweight and face Sergio Mora. The fight with Mora was a boring one and a horrible clash of styles for the action packed Mosley ending in a draw. Many thought Mosley did enough in the fight to deserve the decision and others thought Mora did. However the consensus did believe Mosley began to show his 39 years of age in the fight and should call it a career. But should he? Mosley has shown a pattern throughout his career of having ups and downs; wins and losses. Mosley wins and shines and then he goes through a couple fight rough spell. Without a doubt you know Mosley can't fight forever but his history proves that he bounces back up even when the odds are against him. The question many are wondering is after 54 professional fights, hundreds of amateur fights, and many years of sparring can Sugar Shane Mosley prove to still be sweet? Right now we don't know but if history is any indication look for Sugar Shane Mosley to bounce back up one more time.

Hearns KTFO Duran