Hatton's Exit Plan

Ricky The Hitman Hatton has decided that he will only fight two more times before hanging up the mitts.

The BBC reported that Hatton will face Paulie Malignaggi in the fall as originally planned for a chance to unify light welterweight titles (IBO & IBF). "I don't want to go on forever and would have done everything I dreamed of, so two more fights and then I think I'm done," said Hatton.

After that match-up (if he wins), he has his eyes set on statistically speaking the most popular possible fights in the world, a showdown with newly crowned lightweight champion, Manny Pacquiao or a match up with, The Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya.  

"In the New Year I'm hoping to fight either Manny Pacquiao or Oscar De La Hoya at Wembley Stadium in front of 100,000 people..." Hatton told BBC Sports. 

Hatton, De La Hoya, and Pacquiao are the top three fighters in the sport in terms of popularity worldwide. Either of the fights will be great for the sport and its fans (especially the Pacquiao fight).

Ricky Hatton has done something that in our eyes now puts him ahead of his British counterpart, Joe Calzaghe. He has decided to end his career on the best possible fight against the best fighter, not only  for himself, but for the sport of boxing and its deserving fans.

Listen to Hatton interview

Pavlik vs. Mora: No Go

Sergio Mora has weaseled his way out of another middleweight title shot. After turning down a bout with then undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, Mora added many more doubts to go along with his already shaky resume.  One would think that the reaction from fans and boxing media alone would have been enough to avoid another situation like the first. Wrong.

Bob Arum offered Mora $1.2 million to partake in a battle against the best middleweight in the world, Kelly Pavlik. Again he managed  his way out of a match he knowingly would lose, citing that the he could do it for no less than $1.5 million. Pavlik only made a mil more than that in his recent showing on HBO against Gary Lockett.  Where does Mora get off making demands against the top fighter in the U.S., in a fight that would give him a chance to be on the largest stage in boxing.

Arum said screw em' and is now considering a large stable of fighters for The Ghost's next opponent.  John Duddy was name that has been thrown around in the past, but that was debunked when just this past week he decided to drop to junior middleweight to take on Verno Phillips. Other names discussed have been Marco Antonio Rubio, Winky Wright, and by far the most intriguing, Paul Williams.

Williams is the 6'1" freak at welterweight who recently regained his WBO title after avenging his only loss with a first round KO over Carlos Quintana.  In his past fights he he had been struggling to make weight, so the jump to 160 shouldn't affect him in the ring.  Arum has already spoken with Williams promoter Dan Goosen, and they both agree this would be the best possible fight.  And we agree as well.  Make it happen boys.

Nonito Donaire Scores FHM Fillipina Rachel Marcial

The Fillipino Flash, Nonito Donaire, sat ringside last Saturday night to witness his fellow country man, Manny Pacquiao, win the the lightweight championship. 

Apparently the flyweight champion of the world made an entrance that turned quite a few heads. But it wasn't him they were looking at.  

Donaire's fiance, fomer taekwando U.S. junior champion, Rachel Marcial, who was recently featured in FHM (see photos), was attracting all of the attention.

If the longstanding boxing anecdote is true about abstaining during training camp, Donaire may be at a sudden disadvantage coming home to this every night.

Rachel Marcial kicking some other girls asses (below)

Kelly Pavlik Reports Threat

This is when you know your famous. 

Kelly The Ghost Pavlik reported a serious threat to the Boardman police on Monday stating that a former business partner directed some serious words toward the middleweight champ of the world. Someone from Pavlik's camp claims to have a voice recording of the gentlemen expressing that he would shoot Pavlik in the hands so he wouldn't be able to fight anymore (among other things).  

The alleged threatener is Anthony Scandy who was previously associated with Pavlik in a quasi-manager/partner role.  He is in the process of suing Kelly for money that he believes should be coming his way from the first Jermain Taylor bout. 

Its seems death threats and lawsuits are synonymous with boxing, so none of this is considered to be too far out of the ordinary.  However, Pavlik did say that the reason he reported this particular incident to the police was due to the fact that this Scandy character actually has the means (and stupidity) to actually do something like he suggested.

Scandy better hope his picture doesn't get released to the working class Pavlikers of Youngstown anytime in the near future, becuase if he sets foot in the buckeye state, he will be the one fearing for his life.

Artwork by Adam Morris

Arreola Will Haunt Our Dreams Again in the Near Future: Tua vs. Arreola

The Nightmare, Chris Arreola (24-0, 21 Ko's*), is on the verge of getting his chance to fight for one of the world heavyweight title belts. After witnessing Arreola's clean destruction of undefeated prospect, Chazz Witherspoon, the WBC appears to be setting up a title eliminator bout for the Mexican-American heavyweight.

David Tua, the 35 yr. old Samoan fighter (see right doing his best Superfly Jimmy Snuka impression), has been discussed as a possible opponent for the fight. Tua was once a top fighter in the heavyweight division, challenging Chris Byrd and heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis. After a brief layoff from the sport due to personal reasons, Tua has made a fairly strong comeback, however he has not fought in over a year.

It would seem that Arreola should be a strong favorite to dispose of Tua, especially with youth, activity and a 5 inch height advantage on his side. If Witherspoon was supposed to be Arreola's first real test, then Tua will be his much needed victory over a tough veteran of the sport. There is only place to go from there, challenge the WBC heavyweight champ of the world, The Nigerian Nightmare, Samuel Peter. 

This nightmarish match-up could produce the answer to our fast-food eating, celebrity obsessed, resource guzzling American dreams - A heavywieght champion from our own country. Happy 4th of July.

* Should be 22 Ko's, but referee Randy Phillips was having trouble organizing his thoughts into a coherent decision in Arreola's last outing.

"The Fighter" Movie Set to Shoot

The Playlist has informed us that the on-screen film adaptation, The Fighter, about the former light welterweight title holder, Irish Micky Ward (38-13, 27 Ko's), is set to begin shooting as early as this October. 

A major motion picture about the life and times of Micky Ward, a boxer with a cult irish following, who more or less made his career off 36 rounds of using his head as a punching bag, doesn't strike us as a must-watch film, especially considering the mountainous heap of great boxing stories left untold about boxers with much more interesting tales and just plain better careers. However, it is a boxing movie and since about one is released every three years, it is without a doubt worth seeing, if for nothing more than the cast involved.

It was reported quite some time ago that Mark Wahlberg was inline to play the Irish fighter out of Massachussettes. "I've been training for two years now. I'm ready. I want to look like a champ, not a chump... I want to do [Ward] proud. He came from nothing, went on to win the world title with all the odds stacked against him," Whalberg told MTV. 

The director Darren Aronofsky's, who also directed "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Fountain," had originally asked Matt Damon to play the part of Ward's ex-drug addict, boxer-turned-trainer, half- brother, Dicky Eklund.  When Damon decided to step down from the role, another A-list actor filled the void, none other than Brad Pitt. 

The fact that all of these guys have signed their names to the flick make it instantly more intriguing.  And although it's not the first boxing tale we would have chosen for the silver screen, we find it hard to believe that these three guys will let this fail.

See Micky Ward on a corny local news telecast discussing the book and movie based on his life . He's definitely not a talker - could be due to blows sustained to the organ that controls human speech patterns (or possibly the ingestion of too much chowdah)

Pic of the Week: Soto vs. Lorenzo Ends in Controversy

We are implementing a weekly installment of a boxing pic of the week - old and new pics that will unalterably make the world a better place. This one just so happens to be from Saturday night's pay-per-view under-card.

Rough... did his eyeball fall-out?.... and this guy won the fight.  All be it on one of the worst refereeing decisions we have seen to date, by the man in charge, the "fair but firm", Joe Cortez. 

After being physically mangled for four rounds, Francisco Lorenzo was awarded a very, very controversial victory due to the disqualification of his opponent, Humberto Soto.  

In the midst of delivering a beating, Soto clipped Lorenzo on the back of the head when his knee had just reached the canvas. Immediately Cortez stopped the action for a five minute time out. Lorenzo used this time to lay on the canvas and hold the back of his head in pain, obviously trying to buy some time and make sure his nose was still attached to his mug (see here).  

After a few minutes, Cortez made the decision to disqualify Soto for the single punch. Now this type of thing (hitting and opponent while down) happens in about 1 out of every 5 fights and we rarely even see a point taken away.  He gave no warning, no points were deducted and  he had no grounds what so ever to stop this fight. If he had not given the victory to Lorenzo, who was clearly losing, the fight would have surely been stopped by the ringside physician, Lorezno's corner, or the Francisco Lorenzo himself (refer to picture - top of page).  

The decision was in fact so herendous that the WBC refused to give Lorenzo the belt after the fight.  They later announced that the bout is ruled a draw.  And thank god, at least this shows that they care about the integrity of the sport.

Cortez has been surrounded by controversy since the Ricky Hatton - Floyd Mayweather fight, in which many felt he involved himself far too much and cost Hatton a fair chance. May be time to hang it up Joe, especially after the events that occurred over the past weekend. See him below try to stand by one of the worst decisions made in recent history. It's fair to say that he was firmly mistaken on this one.

Jermain Taylor to Fight for Super Middleweight Crown?

Whenever the contract is formally inked for the Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones Jr. fight, Joe C. will be directed to relinquish his WBC super middleweight belt as a result of staying up in the light heavyweight division.

Next in line for the interim belt, is apparently former undisputed middleweight champ of the world, Jermain Taylor, despite not having any previous fights at 168 lbs.  The man standing in between him and the super middleweight title is the little-known undefeated prospect, Carl Froch, by way of the United Kingdom. 

Though negotiations have only just begun, Froch had a few choice words for Mr. Bad Intentions. "I just hope Taylor shows a real fighting heart and goes through with this fight... I've heard he was talking about fighting Jeff Lacy," said Froch. "I would knock Lacy out in a round or two and it's an easy fight for Taylor, so I just hope Jermain doesn't squirm out of the situation with me."

Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoted asked, "Who is Carl Froch?" And so did we.  Not to say that he isn't a very good fighter, but these are some big words directed at an established fighter, whereas he cannot say the same for himself.  

Jermain Taylor has somewhat fallen of the charts for the past few months after the only two losses of his career, both to Kelly Pavlik. However, we are quick to forget that Taylor defeated the so called "legend", Bernard Hopkins, on two separate occasions (in Hopkin's prime) and just over a year ago was in the top ten of many pound-for-pound lists. Joe Calzaghe barely came out of the ring with a win against an over-the-hill Hopkins, yet he is praised for beating a "legend of the sport."

Taylor  is still one of the best middle divison fighters in the world, he just happened to run into the best in his last two bouts.  Whichever fight he pursues next should be a great comeback for Arkansas' own, Jermain Bad Intentions Taylor.