Saturday, February 13, 2010

Countdown to Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3

Latin Fury and Pinoy Power come together on Saturday 13th to bring 3 exciting bouts. Nonito Donaire vs Gerson Guerrero, Fernando Montiel vs Ciso Morales , Eric Morel vs Gerry PeƱalosa .



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Pinoy Power, Or Pinoy Power Outage?: Previews And Predictions For Eric Morel Vs. Gerry Penalosa, Mario Santiago Vs. Bernabe Concepcion

Fortunately, the undercard of Pinoy Power 3 -- technically, the card is named Pinoy Power 3/Latin Fury 13, what with Pinoy fighters going up against Latin fighters -- features at least two significant, competitive fights on paper. Eric Morel and Gerry Penalosa are two elder statesmen bantamweights, with Penalosa holding a title strap in the division until last year. Mario Santiago is rated #6 at featherweight by Ring magazine, and Bernabe Concepcion has the potential to be a top-10 talent. Morel-Penalosa stacks up as a meeting of sharp boxers on the verge of one last title shot. Santiago-Concepcion stacks up as the better scrap of the two, and the winner gets a second chance at a title shot. (I'm not sure if Fernando Montiel-Ciso Morales at bantamweight will be competitive, given Montiel's periodic shakiness and Morales' inexperience.)

ERIC MOREL - GERRY PENALOSA

The last time Penalosa was on the big stage, he put on one of the bravest losing performances you'll ever see, a stoppage loss to youngpower-punching stud Juan Manuel Lopez at junior featherweight. Lopez racked up records for power punches landed in a 122-pound fight, but still Penalosa kept coming and having bursts of success. Penalosa's world-class trainer Freddie Roach wisely pulled the plug, and encouraged Penalosa to stop fighting altogether. Roach changed his mind when Penalosa moved back down to 118 and said he'd retire if he lost his next fight, because he's still training Penalosa, who will be coming off a nearly 10-month layoff from that beating.

At age 37 and after that fearsome beatdown, it's fair to wonder what Penalosa -- the godfather of the Filipino boxing movement currently led by Pacquiao -- has left. I've always liked Gerry because he's such a smart fighter and as good as he is on defense and with counterpunching, he's also aggressive offensively. But he was never in the Lopez fight, really. He'd land the occasional big counter shot, but mostly he was just absorbing blows from the relentless and physically bigger youngster, to the point that Penalosa's normally sharp defense was overwhelmed. Prior to that fight, he'd looked pretty good for an old man, beating some good vets after upsetting Jhonny Gonzalez to take his alphabet title belt in 2007 and outboxing Daniel Ponce De Leon that same year in a fight where he lost widely on the scorecards but deserved the narrow decision.

Eric Morel is getting up there in age, too, at 34. Finding footage of fights since his comeback in 2008 is difficult, and none of his wins have come against top-notch opposition, so it's hard to say whether his claims that he's taking the sport much more seriously these days are accurate. Prior to his layoff from boxing while he served time for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, against his three most recent top opponents, he'd lost to Martin Castillo in 2005 and Lorenzo Parra in 2003, but he beat Denkaosan Kaovichit in 2002. Morel is a niceboxer , with good movement, an educated jab and counterpunching ability. He has faced accusations of being a safety-first type, and given his lack ofpower , he can be a bit boring -- but he's skilled enough that he has been in line for fights with Montiel, Z Gorres and Hozumi Hasegawa before they all fell apart for one reason or another.

For Penalosa, the key will be getting close. Penalosa struggles with "movers." Gonzalez flummoxed him with a moving style before Penalosa caught the Mexican with a well-placed body shot. In 2000 and 2001, Masamori Tokuyama twice defeated Penalosa with moving and boxing. In sparring, Penalosa reportedly had trouble even connecting one day recently on super-prospect and pureboxer Guillermo Rigondeaux, and Roach reports that the usually iron-chinned Rigondeaux "shook" Penalosa. At 5'4" and with a 65" reach, Penalosa is little, and he'll be giving away two inches in height and five whopping inches of reach to Morel. For Morel, the key will be staying busy enough to win close rounds while not opening himself up to big body shots. From the pre-comeback footage of Morel, it looked far easier to hit him in the body than in the head. And Penalosa has a couple body shot KOs on his resume.

This fight is a tough one to call because we don't know what Penalosa has left, we haven't seen Morel in against anyone as good as Penalosa for nearly five years and it's a difficult style match-up to predict anyhow. I've gone back and forth on whom I think will win, but I'm going with Penalosa for the following reason: Gonzalez was moving but he also was keeping Penalosa occupied, and I don't think the cautious Morel is going to be doing enough to keep Penalosa occupied. I see Morel doing well with movement early before Penalosa uses body punching to catch up to him late, enough to take a close decision win. Whoever the winner is, he gets a shot at Montiel next.

MARIO SANTIAGO - BERNABE CONCEPCION

It's not always a good idea to compare how two boxers did against a common opponent. There are some key differences in how Santiago and Concepcion fared against Steven Luevano, and in why they did. Santiago came up with a draw against Luevano, so Luevano retained his title belt. Concepcion was disqualified against Luevano in a fight he was losing on the scorecards, and as such Luevano retained his title belt. Luevano foughtSantiago far more boldly than he did Concepcion, swapping shots with the Puerto Rican but steering clear on the outside against the Filipino. But I think it's instructive here.

The HBO broadcast team repeatedly described Santiago and Luevano as left-handed counterpunchers. They were enough alike that they gave one another trouble. Santiago is a more aggressive, harder-hitting version of Luevano, but a somewhat less tricky and slick one. Santiago had a speed edge, too. He's a good boxer-puncher, in other words, with fewer knockouts that I might expect -- 14 in 21 wins -- considering his apparent heavy hitting. Since the Luevano draw in 2008, where both men hit the canvas,Santiago has fought twice against opponents of little repute. But before that he had a nice amateur pedigree and came up via ShoBox, which tests prospects well when they arrive on the big stage.

Concepcion is more in the puncher mold, but he's not without boxing ability. He's got deceptively quick hands and feet, and his 15 KOs in 27 wins don't take into account that he has scored more knockouts in recent fights than in early ones. At just 22 years of age, and withFreddie Roach in his corner, he's still growing as a fighter, and the Luevano fight showed that he has a lot more growing to do still. Luevano outboxed him, and Concepcion couldn't or wouldn't let his punches fly. Only in the 7th did Concepcion begin to get aggressive, and when he did, it went well for him. Then he got too aggressive, letting loose a big right hand well after the bell that resulted in a DQ. Concepcion, by the way, may be a goodboxer on the offensive end, but defensively he has lapses.

At any rate, Concepcion really struggled with a left-handed counterpuncher. And as I mentioned, Santiago is faster than Luevano. That Santiago is more aggressive than Luevano actually has a chance of backfiring against Concepcion, who hits hard; if Luevano can deck Santiago, Concepcion sure can. Concepcion may have an age advantage here -- Santiago is 31 -- but as in Morel-Penalosa, there's a big size disparity, too, with the Filipino being two inches shorter at 5'4" and with a five inch reach disadvantage at 66". I don't see this one going the distance, whatever way it goes, but I'll pickSantiago by knockout in the middle rounds. And the winner gets Juan Manuel Lopez, most likely, according to promoter Bob Arum's plans -- who's just coming off a win over Luevano, giving the victor a chance to avenge himself by proxy.

New Challenger for Nonito Donaire: Manuel 'Chango' Vargas

Manuel 'Chango' Vargas, 26-4-1, of Mexico is the new challenger for Nonito Donaire on Saturday night.

Bob Arum announced the change today. Gerson Guerrero, who was scheduled to box Donaire, failed an eye examination and was removed the title card because of medical reasons.

"I just want to fight - bring on anyone," said Donaire, when told of the change. Donaire said he has been in training for over two months.

Arum made the announcement during a press conference at the Las Vegas Hilton. He said Donaire vs. Vargas will be the main event
for Top Rank's Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3 which is scheduled Saturday, Feb. 13.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Edwin Valero vs. Antonio Demarco 2/6/10









2009 Pacquiao Vs. Cotto

2009 Pacquiao Vs. Hatton

2008 Pacquiao vs Dela Hoya

Watch Pinoy Power 3 Live Streaming


Four of the best Filipino boxers of the decade are set to see action in the ring next year, just 6 months after the highly successful “Pinoy Power 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada.

World Boxing Association (WBA) interim super flyweight champ Nonito Donaire, Jr. will defend his title against veteran Mexican fighter Gerson Guerrero in “Pinoy Power 3” on February 13.

The event, which features 4 Filipino boxers going against 4 Latino fighters, is also called “Latin Fury 13.” It will be held at the Hilton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.



Friday, February 5, 2010

Mayweather's signature seals the deal to face Mosley May 1 in Mega Fight

*NOTE: FIGHTERS AGREE TO PARTICIPATE IN OLYMPIC-STYLE DRUG TESTING

LAS VEGAS (February 3, 2010) - It's official. Boxing's biggest superstar and six-time world champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather made his upcoming fight with welterweight mega-star and five-time world champion Sugar Shane Mosley, official today when he signed the contract that pits the two fighters against each other on Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a mega-bout which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View®.

"This one is definitely for the fans as I wasn't going to waste anyone's time with a meaningless tune-up bout and asked to fightShane immediately," said Mayweather. "I have said ever since I came back to the sport that I only wanted to fight the best. I think Shane is one of the best, but come May 1, he still won't be great enough to beat me."

"I have always wanted to fight Floyd and now it is finally coming true," said Mosley, who signed his side of the deal last Friday inLas Vegas . "I am already in great shape and ready to show everyone on May 1 that I am stronger, faster and better than he is. I will have no problem beating him."


In addition to the fight being one of the most competitive and talked about contests in each of the fighters' careers, Mayweather and Mosley have agreed to Olympic-style drug testing for the fight.

"Floyd has been trying to make this fight for the last 10 years, so he is extremely excited about the opportunity to face Shane," said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO, Mayweather Promotions. "He can't wait to extend his undefeated record and perform at the highest level. More importantly, he is also happy to set the precedent for random blood testing in order to ensure fair and safe contests for allfighters."

"When two champions of this caliber meet in the ring, you can expect nothing but excellence and that is what we are going to see on May 1," said Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions. "Shane Mosley is one of the greatest fighters of this era and I commend him for not only agreeing to the fight against Mayweather, but also agreeing to participate in a testing process that can only help the integrity of the sport."

"Mayweather-Mosley is a showdown of superstars that fans have been talking about for years", said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. "It has all the elements of a pay-per-view mega-fight."



A 1996 Olympic Bronze medalist for the United States, Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO's) has since gone on to strike Gold in the professional ranks, winning six world titles in five weight classes to firmly establish himself as one of the most elitefighters of his era. With dominating wins over the likes of world champions Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, Mayweather was on a meteoric rise to hall of fame greatness when he announced his retirement from the ring in 2008. But he left the door open for a return if the right challenge presented itself and after 18 months of a much needed physical and emotional break from the ring, he returned to boxing on September 19, 2009 with a dominating and spectacular victory over future Hall of Famer Juan Manuel Marquez.

A future Hall of Famer with five world titles to his name, Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO's) has ruled the lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions over his storied 16-year career and at 38 years old, the Pomona, Calif. native seems to be getting better and better as the years pass. Winner of seven of his last eight fights dating back to 2005, Mosley has defeated the likes of Fernando Vargas (twice), Luis Collazo and Ricardo Mayorga, but his most recent victory also was one of his most spectacular -- a ninth round stoppage of Antonio Margarito in January 2009 to win the welterweight world title for the third time.

Mayweather-Mosley: Shane signs contract for May 1st bout

By Eric Thomas: The mega fight between unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley is on for May 1st, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yahoo Sports news writer Kevin Iole is reporting that Shane Mosley has signed the contract for the fight against Mayweather on May 1st. Mosley, 38, took a flight to Las Vegas, according to Iole, and signed the contract for the fight. Once Mayweather signs the contract, a news conference is expected shortly to officially give the announcement for the Mayweather-Mosley fight. Mayweather, 32, was looking to fight World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on March 13th, at the Dallas Cowboy stadium, in Arlington, Texas.

That Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was unable to be negotiated because Mayweather wanted Olympic style random blood tests to be taken in the weeks leading up to the fight. Pacquiao wasn’t comfortable with the blood testing because of his belief that it weakened him. However, Pacquiao did eventually agree to take the blood tests, but didn’t want to take any inside of 24 days before the fight. Mayweather wanted the random blood testing to stop at 14 days before the fight.

Should Mayweather get by Mosley on May 1st, Mayweather and Pacquiao may need to revisit the random blood testing issue if they want to negotiate for a huge mega fight in the future. If Mayweather drops the idea of blood testing, it shouldn’t be too hard to put together a fight with Pacquiao. However, it’s unlikely that Mayweather will want to back off his desire to have the random blood testing take place for a fight against Pacquiao. Mosley reportedly has no issues with taking the random blood tests for his fight against Mayweather.

Pacquiao named Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade

By Esteban Garduno: World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO’s) has been named Fighter of the Year for 2009 for his wins over Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. The voting was done by the Boxing Writers Association of America. Also, Pacquiao has been selected as the Fighter of the Decade – 2000-2009.

Other fighters who were in the running for that award was Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley and Marco Antonio Barrera. It’s a subjective thing, because some people might feel that the unbeaten Calzaghe or the forever young Hopkins might have better deserved the award.

Additionally, there are some people who think that Pacquiao lost to Marquez in 2008, a fight in which Pacquiao won by a 12 round split decision. Calzaghe was unbeaten during the entire decade, as well as his entire career. He certainly deserved a good hard look when it came to the voting.

As for the 2009 fighter of the year, unbeaten super middleweight Andre Ward also was one to consider giving the award to. Ward defeated knockout artist Edison Miranda and WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler. At the time that the young 25-year-old Ward beat Kessler, the Danish fighter was considered to be the best fighter in the division and was picked to be the winner of the Super Six tournament.

Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in 2009. There are many people who say that neither fighter is at the top of their game anymore. Indeed, Cotto had been beaten badly only a year earlier in 2008 by Antonio Margarito, and had looked poor in a subsequent fight against Joshua Clottey in 2009. Hatton had been knocked out byFloyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007, and staggered badly in a fight against Juan Lazcano in 2008.

Hatton had been going up in down in weight between fights and had recently picked up a new trainer in Floyd Mayweather Sr. at the time that he fought Pacquiao. As you can see, this award could have easily have gone to another fighter. Another fighter who might have deserved the fighter of the decade award is Mosley. Shane has wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas, Luis Collazo and Antonio Margarito, among many others. He’s won titles in the welterweight and light middleweight divisions.

What Pacquiao's drugs can't do

SOURCE: EXAMINER.COM

According to Floyd 'Money' Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao is on something so good that helped him become the best boxer of this decade that it only proves how "the Philippines have the best enhancement drugs".

Unfortunately, Pacquiao's drugs can't help the Philippines in winning a single gold medal in the Olympics thus far.

According to Floyd Mayweather Sr., the substance Pacquiao is taking makes him stronger, wild and not feel anything.

Unfortunately, Pacquiao's drugs can't help his brother Bobby nor the rest of his other countrymen not named Donaire or Nietes, dominate the way he is doing in the sport of boxing.

Roger Mayweather said that the drugs Pacquiao is taking used to make Philippine soldiers 500 years ago "bulletproof" and further added, "they weren't even dying".

Unfortunately, Pacquiao's drugs could not help the "immortal" Filipino super soldiers from stopping the Spaniards, the Japanese and the Americans from conquering their land.

Paulie Malignaggi said Pacquiao is on something "fishy".

Unfortuantely, Pacquiao's drugs, as evidenced in Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7, could not help him swim like a fish.

dSource is serving it up today and the special on the menu is 'sarcasm'. If you don't get it in your area, 'here, have some'. ForPacquiao 's undetectable super steroids drugs may be the best thing that was ever invented since sliced bread and the shiznit is so potent even a caveman can use it.