Miguel Cotto – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Hall of Fame has TOO many worthy candidates for Class of 2021

The International Boxing Hall of Fame might have too many qualified candidates for its Class of 2021.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame could have a problem.

The IBHOF has released its list of candidates for the Class of 2021. And there arguably are five no-brainers on the ballot, guys who could receive check marks without doing much research.

They are (in alphabetical order): Miguel Cotto, Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather, James Toney and Andre Ward. And that’s not counting other fighters some believe are worthy of induction, such as Tim Bradley, Diego Corrales and Rafael Marquez.

The problem?

Only the top three vote getters are guaranteed election into the Hall. More could get in but they would have to receive votes on 80% of the ballots, which is far from sure thing. Only three were elected last year.

And, in this case, you can’t blame the change in the retirement threshold – from five to three years — instituted before last year’s voting, which could potentially create a glut of worthy candidates depending on the year.

All five of the no-brainers happened to fight for the last time in 2017, which makes them eligible in this year’s voting.

So who gets in?

Mayweather is a slam dunk. No discussion needed. I think the other four are essentially in a dead heat. I hope Nos. 4 and 5, whomever they are, get to that to 80% level but I’m not optimistic.

Of course, they could be elected next year or beyond but they’ll be in competition with the coming crops of eligible fighters.

We’ll see how this plays out.

Here is the full list of candidates (in alphabetical order): Yuri Arbachakov, Jorge Arce, Paulie Ayala, Nigel Benn, Timothy Bradley, Vuyani Bungu, Ivan Calderon, Joel Casamayor, Sot Chitalada, Diego Corrales, Miguel Cotto, Chris Eubank, Carl Froch, Leo Gamez, Ricky Hatton, Genaro Hernandez, Chris John, Mikkel Kessler, Wladimir Klitschko, Santos Laciar, Rocky Lockridge, Miguel “Happy” Lora, Rafael Marquez, Henry Maske, Floyd Mayweather, Dariusz Michalczewski, Sung-Kil Moon, Michael Moorer, Orzubek Nazarov, Sven Ottke, Vinny Paz, Gilberto Roman, Gianfranco Rosi, Samuel Serrano, Antonio Tarver, Meldrick Taylor, James Toney, Fernando Vargas, Israel Vazquez, Wilfredo Vazquez, Ratanapol Sor Vorapin and Andre Ward.

Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley were elected last year but the induction weekend, normally in June, was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. They will be inducted with the Class of 2021 next year.

Also last year, Barbara Buttrick, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker became the first women boxers to be elected.

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Hall of Fame has TOO many worthy candidates for Class of 2021

The International Boxing Hall of Fame might have too many qualified candidates for its Class of 2021.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame could have a problem.

The IBHOF has released its list of candidates for the Class of 2021. And there arguably are five no-brainers on the ballot, guys who could receive check marks without doing much research.

The problem?

All five of the no-brainers happened to fight for the last time in 2017, which makes them eligible in this year’s voting.

So who gets in?

Mayweather is a slam dunk. No discussion needed. I think the other four are essentially in a dead heat. I hope Nos. 4 and 5, whomever they are, get to that to 80% level but I’m not optimistic.

Of course, they could be elected next year or beyond but they’ll be in competition with the coming crops of eligible fighters.

We’ll see how this plays out.

Also last year, Barbara Buttrick, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker became the first women boxers to be elected.

[lawrence-related id=7757,3766]

Sergio Martinez records knockout in return to ring

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino on Friday in Spain.

Older fighter, same result.

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino in seven rounds in a super middleweight fight Friday in Torrelavega, Spain.

Martinez (52-3-2, 29 KOs) put the 36-year-old Fandino (15-7, 8 KOs) down twice with body shots, once in the sixth and once in the final round. A Fandino cornerman threw in the towel during the referee’s.

Spectators at Estadio El Malecon reportedly were limited to about 1,000 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinez fought with both knees wrapped and moved well, if a bit more slowly than he once had. An injury to the Argentine’s right knee plagued him in his previous few fights.

He injured it in the final round of his unanimous-decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in defense of his middleweight title in September 2012 and was never the same.

Martinez, once on pound-for-pound lists, eked past Martin Murray by decision the following April but, essentially fighting on one leg, he was stopped by Miguel Cotto in 10 rounds to lose his belt in June 2014.

He didn’t fight again until Friday.

Sergio Martinez records knockout in return to ring

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino on Friday in Spain.

Older fighter, same result.

Sergio Martinez, the 45-year-old former titleholder who hadn’t fought in six years, stopped Jose Miguel Fandino in seven rounds in a super middleweight fight Friday in Torrelavega, Spain.

Spectators at Estadio El Malecon reportedly were limited to about 1,000 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Martinez fought with both knees wrapped and moved well, if a bit more slowly than he once had. An injury to the Argentine’s right knee plagued him in his previous few fights.

He injured it in the final round of his unanimous-decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in defense of his middleweight title in September 2012 and was never the same.

He didn’t fight again until Friday.

Sergio Martinez scheduled to face Jose Miguel Fandino on Aug. 21

Sergio Martinez told a Spanish TV station that he will face Jose Miguel Fandino in a 10-round middleweight bout on Aug. 21 in Spain.

Sergio Martinez’s return to boxing appears to be set.

Martinez told a Spanish TV station that he will face Jose Miguel Fandino in a 10-round middleweight bout on Aug. 21 in Torrelavega, a town in northern Spain. The original date was Aug. 22.

Martinez, 45, is a native of Argentina who has lived in Spain for a number of years. He hasn’t fought since June 2014, when he fought Miguel Cotto with a nagging knee injury and was stopped in 10 rounds.

Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) announced in February that he had been training in Spain, felt good and intended to return to the ring in June. However, those plans were scrapped after the coronavirus took hold.

Fandino (15-6, 8 KOs) last fought in November, when he stopped fellow Spaniard Sergio Fernandez in two rounds. He’s 35.

Miguel Cotto hopes to stage card in Puerto Rico in August

Miguel Cotto and H2 Entertainment released a plan to restart the sport in Puerto Rico in a responsible manner,

Live boxing could resume in Puerto Rico in August.

That’s when future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto hopes to begin staging cards without spectators through his promotional firm amid the coronavirus pandemic. The shows reportedly would take place at the Nilmarie Santini complex in San Juan.

Cotto and H2 Entertainment released his plan to restart the sport in a responsible manner, which they hope will receive the blessing of government officials. Precautions include:

Boxers would be twice before they’re allowed to step into the ring.
Those at ringside – including referees, cornermen and production crewmembers – would wear protective gear.
Each corner would be limited to a trainer and cut person.
Judges would be placed 6 feet away from the ring and behind a plastic shield.
Others at ringside – commission officials, medical personnel – would be placed at least 12 feet away from the ring and 6 feet apart from one another.
Cards would be limited to five fights and 28 rounds.
The temperatures of everyone on site would be checked regularly.

Puerto Rico has had approximately 2,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 114 reported deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. The island, a territory of the United States, has a population of roughly 3.2 million.

UFCs Dana White produced the blueprint for boxings restart

Video: Canelo Alvarez breaks down important victory over Austin Trout

In this video, courtesy of DAZN, Canelo Alvarez provides his analysis as he watches his break-through victory over Austin Trout.

Canelo Alvarez had tough matchups before he met Austin Trout on April 20, 2013 but this fight was a step up for the young Mexican star.

Trout was a big, strong 154-pounder who was undefeated and coming off an impressive victory over future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto in defense of his world title. He was a real threat to Alvarez.

In the end, Canelo passed the test, outboxing Trout to win a clear, unanimous decision — 118-109, 115-112, 116-111 — although some knowledgeable observers thought it was closer than those scores indicate.

In this video, courtesy of DAZN, Alvarez provides his analysis (with subtitles) as he watches the fight.

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Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Four reasons fans were disappointed

Here are four reasons that the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2, 2015 failed to deliver.

The Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight was a financial bonanza and an absolute dud in terms of its entertaining value.

The fight, which took place five years ago today, reportedly generated 4.6 pay-per-view buys in the U.S. and around $600 million dollars worldwide. Both fighters walked away with nine-figure paydays that still boggle the mind.

The fans walked away entirely unsatisfied. Here are four reasons why:

IT HAPPENED TOO LATE

Mayweather-Pacquiao should’ve taken place five years earlier, when they were still in their primes and Pacquiao would’ve actually had a chance to win. The Filipino would’ve had to be at his blazing-quick, volume-punching best to give “Money” a run for his money. He was still a good fighter in 2015 but, at 36, he wasn’t quite as quick or busy as he was a half-decade earlier. Some will point out that Mayweather, 38, also wasn’t at his peak. True. However, he remained a master of maintaining the distance that suited him best and still had his magnificent shoulder-roll defense. You couldn’t touch him. Pacquiao somehow won four rounds on two cards and two on the third but the fight was dull and not really competitive.

MAYWEATHER’S ABILITY AND STYLE

We were foolish to be optimistic going into the fight. Mayweather had been in few entertaining fights over the previous decade because he chose to throw just enough punches to win on the scorecards. The goal was to hit and not get hit, which was his forte. Entertainment wasn’t a part of the equation. The hope was that Pacquiao would be assertive and good enough to push Mayweather into a compelling back-and-forth affair but that was asking too much of a fighter who had begun to decline. Of course, many argue that even Pacquiao at his very best – perhaps around the time he stopped Miguel Cotto in 2009 – wouldn’t have had the ability to beat a boxing genius like Mayweather. They might be right.

PACQUIAO’S “SHOULDER INJURY”

I’m not 100 percent convinced that Pacquiao entered the ring with a shoulder injury, at least not one that hindered his ability to fight to a significant degree. For the purposes of this opinion piece, however, I’ll take his word for it. That raises an important question: Should he have been open about the injury beforehand? He and his team would respond, “Of course not. You can’t let your opponent know that you have a weakness.” Makes sense. At the same time, fans, some of whom filed lawsuits, had a right exclaim after the fact, “I plunked down $100 for the pay-per-view. I had a right to know if Pacquiao wasn’t 100 percent.” That also makes sense. The bottom line is that Pacquiao and Co. were never going to tip their hand or risk losing the monstrous payday by postponing the fight even if that risked alienating fans.

THE HYPE AND COST OF PAY-PER-VIEW

Few highly hyped fights live up to expectations. Period. And the hype for Mayweather-Pacquiao went on for years – too many years – and reached a fevered pitch as the fight approached. Add to that a hundred-dollar price tag for pay-per-view in the U.S. and you had fans who were never going to be satisfied unless the fighters delivered something truly special. Again, they didn’t. As a result, fans, some feeling they’d been cheated, were disappointed or disgusted or both. Promoter Bob Arum recently told BoxingScene.com that the event turned many fans against the business model. Said Arum: “Pay-per-view boxing has pretty much been on a decline ever since that fight.”

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao among classics to be aired this weekend

Fans have had to subside on classic fights to get their boxing fixes. And some good ones are coming up.

Say what you want about the way Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao played out in 2015; it was huge. That fight and other memorable showdowns will be showcased on ESPN and Showtime this weekend.

ESPN has dedicated four hours to boxing following the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday. The program is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Here is the ESPN lineup: 7 p.m., Mayweather vs. Zab Judah, in which Mayweather won his first welterweight title and a brawl between corners broke out; 8 p.m., Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez II, in which Pacquiao became the first Asian fighter to win titles in four divisions; 9 p.m., Pacquiao vs. Cotto, in which the Filipino star won a title in a seventh weight class; and 10 p.m., Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, the richest fight in history.

Most of ESPN’s library of fights are also available on ESPN+.

Showtime Boxing Classics will present two memorable fights featuring all-action brawler John Molina at 10 p.m. ET / PT on Friday.

The first bout is Molina’s 2013 unforgettable upset of then-unbeaten Mickey Bey, which took place in Las Vegas. Molina was down on all three cards and time was running out when he scored a miraculous last-minute knockout.

The victory gave Molina’s career a significant boost.

“I still have nightmares about those last 58 seconds and what would have happened to my career had the time ran out,” Molina said. “I would have never signed with Al Haymon without those final 58 seconds.”

The second fight is Molina’s 2014 war with Lucas Matthysse in Los Angeles, in which both fighters went down twice before the Argentine won by 11th round knockout.

“I still have longtime members of the boxing press to this day come up and tell me that in 30 years of covering boxing, the Matthysse fight was the only fight they’ve ever had to turn away from and not watch because it was such a brutal war,” Molina said. “I didn’t realize how special it was till I went back and watched it.”

The programming can be viewed on Showtime, Showtime Anytime and the Showtime stand-alone streaming service.

Building greatness: Five fights that define Manny Pacquiao

Here are five victories that defined Manny Pacquiao as one of the greatest fighters of his generation.

Greatness is achieved step by painstaking step over a substantial period of time.

Few get there. And those who do can generally point to defining victories that served as those rare stepping stones that lead directly to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. All great fighters have that in common.

With that in mind, Boxing Junkie is initiating an occasional series called “Building Greatness,” in which we select a special fighter and provide five stepping-stone victories that demonstrated his greatness.

Our first subject: Manny Pacquiao, who over more than two decades proved over and over again that he is one of the best fighters of all time.

Here are five fights that helped define him:

LEHLO LEDWABA

Date / site: June 23, 2001 / MGM Grand, Las Vegas
Division: Junior featherweight
Records: Pacquiao 32-2; Ledwaba 33-1-1
At stake: Ledwaba’s IBF title
Result: Pacquiao TKO 6
Background: Ledwaba, a talented South African, was one of the hottest fighters in the world when he agreed to defend his 122-pound title against Pacquiao on the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Javier Castillejo card. Some believed he was a future pound-for-pounder. Pacquiao? Trainer Freddie Roach had an inkling that his little Filipino was special but few others were aware of his potential. Until this fight. Pacquiao, throwing quick, hard punches from impossible angles and at a remarkable rate, stunned Ledwaba and everyone watching by dominating the champion in every conceivable way en route to a spectacular knockout. Pacquiao won every round on all three cards through five rounds. The future Hall of Famer was a secret no more. He had arrived.

***

MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA

Date / site: Nov. 15, 2003 / Alamodome, San Antonio
Division: Featherweight
Records: Pacquiao 37-2-1; Barrera 57-3
At stake: Nothing
Result: Pacquiao TKO 11
Background: This was only the first of Pacquiao’s nine fights against one of the great Mexican trio of Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez. But he proved in this fight — the main event at the Alamodome — that he was capable of dominating a truly great opponent. Pacquiao, too fast, too powerful, too good for Barrera, had wide leads on all three cards and was pounding Barrera at will when the victim’s corner ended the slaughter with four seconds remaining in the penultimate round. “This is a fight that will shake up the boxing world,” HBO commentator Larry Merchant said toward the end of the fight. And indeed it did. A star was born that night. Pacquiao would end up with a record of 6-2-1 against the Mexican Hall of Famers.

***

OSCAR DE LA HOYA

Date / site: Dec. 6, 2008 / MGM Grand, Las Vegas
Division: Welterweight
Records: Pacquiao 47-3-2; De La Hoya 39-5
At stake: Nothing
Result: Pacquiao TKO 8
Background: In retrospect, Pacquiao’s knockout victory over De La Hoya makes sense. The Mexican-American superstar was 35, in decline and dropped considerable weight to make the fight happen. However, at the time, it was difficult to imagine the diminutive Pacquiao beating such a gifted, experienced and naturally bigger opponent. We learned quickly that the young, dynamic Filipino was too much for this version of De La Hoya, who had neither the reflexes nor wherewithal to cope with Pacquiao’s speed and accurate punching. He battered his one-time idol for eight rounds – losing only one round on one card – before De La Hoya’s handlers decided enough was enough and he didn’t come out for Round 9. The victory proved to be Pacquiao’s threshold to superstardom.

***

MIGUEL COTTO

Date / site: Nov. 14, 2009 / MGM Grand, Las Vegas
Division: Welterweight
Records: Pacquiao 49-3-2; Cotto 34-1
At stake: Cotto’s WBO title
Result: Pacquiao TKO 12
Background: Pacquiao followed his stunning victory over De La Hoya with perhaps his greatest knockout, a breathtaking, one-punch stoppage of the durable Ricky Hatton on May 2, 2009. However, his victory over Cotto was more important. The Puerto Rican had built a reputation as one of the best fighters in the world over the previous half decade. And, frankly, Pacquiao had his way with him. Cotto felt Pacquiao’s power early – going down in Rounds 3 and 4 – and had no appetite to exchange punches from then on. Instead, he turned to his formidable skill set and dancing ability but even that failed him in the end. Cotto, his face a battered mess, was taking a pounding when referee Kenny Bayless finally stopped the fight.

***

KEITH THURMAN

Date / site: July 20, 2019
Division: Welterweight
Records: Pacquiao 61-7-2; Thurman 29-0
At stake: Thurman’s WBA title
Result: Pacquiao SD 12
Background: Pacquiao had many more-dominating performances than this one in his nearly quarter-century career. The elements that made this one special? Pacquiao’s age (40) and Thurman’s perceived ability. Pacquiao certainly wasn’t a has-been, having beaten Adrien Broner in his previous fight, but he was relatively old, couldn’t fight at the same pace he once did and was a small 147-pounder. All that figured to work in favor of Thurman, a big, strong welterweight who was in the second fight of a comeback from injuries. Turned out that even a diminished version of Pacquiao could still beat an elite 147-pounder. Pacquiao got off to a quick start by putting Thurman down in Round 1 and then fought in energy-conserving bursts to win rounds and ultimate the fight, albeit by a narrow margin. Surprise, surprise. The great one still had more to give.