Solis recaptured IBF lightweight crown

In a rematch, former longtime world champion Ulises “Archi” Solis (33-2-3, 21 KOs) dethroned 40-year-old world champion Luis Lazarte (48-10-2, 18 KOs) by close twelve round split decision to regain the IBF light flyweight title on Saturday night Club Once Unidos in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Referee Benjy Esteves Jr. warned both fighters repeatedly trying to keep a tight lid on the fight to avoid a repeat of the foul-fest in the first Solis-Lazarte clash where Lazarte retained the title in a controversial draw, after which the IBF ordered an immediate rematch. Solis did good work early, but Lazarte came on strong late. Scores were 116-111, 115-112 for Solis, 114-113 for Lazarte.

King Arthur ready to US: Referee row is now resolved

King Arthur Abraham will travel to the US on Sunday morning after the referee row has been resolved. The former Super Six World Boxing Classic Tournament point leader is set to take on WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Andre Ward in the semi-finals at the Home Depot Center in Carson on May 14. “We are pleased that all issues regarding the judges and the referee have been sorted,” Hall of Fame-Promoter Wilfried Sauerland said. “The Californian Commission and Dan Goossen have finally decided to honour the agreement that the referee will be from neither the US nor Europe. We have also agreed upon the three judges scoring the bout at ringside. This was our condition to let Arthur travel to the US, and since all of our demands have been met, he will now fly to the US on Sunday. I´m not sure why the Commission and Goossen did not stick to something everybody had signed off a long time ago but speaking from experience I know that dealing with Dan can be difficult at times.”

After Luis Pabon (Puerto Rico) was officially confirmed as the referee, Sauerland said the stage is set for an exciting fight. “This infamous referee row just adds to the growing notion that Ward is over-protected by Goossen. The fact that he has been trying to appoint a Californian referee does not make him look like the most confident promoter I have ever seen. But then again I can´t fault him for being scared of Arthur´s punching power. We are glad we have won the first round without even leaving the country but quite frankly I could have done without all the arguing.”

Meanwhile, King Arthur said he was unfazed by the referee discussion. “I do the fighting in the ring and let my mangers Kalle and Wilfried Sauerland take care of the rest,” he said. “I am glad that everything has been sorted and I am grateful their hard work has paid off.”

Abraham is travelling to the US knowing that the odds are against him. “I know that many people consider Ward the favourite – probably the same who considered me the favourite to win the tournament after my first-round KO victory over Taylor. All I can say is that I am looking forward to May 14 and that everything can happen in boxing, especially when you got a lot of punching power.”

Oscar De la Hoya Rips Pacquiao over Marquez Trilogy

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya says the trilogy offer to Juan Manuel Marquez shows a level of disrespect by Manny Pacquiao and his promoters Top Rank. Marquez recently received an offer to face Pacquiao for a third time in the fall. The offer is reportedly a guarantee of $5 million dollars plus a pay-per-view percentage. De La Hoya says the offer was made at the wrong time because Pacquiao is facing Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. For me, [making that offer] shows disrespect to everyone in the press, the people and the fans. Because Pacquiao has a fight with Mosley and what does this tell you? That Pacquiao will defeat Mosley? It's not right. Maybe you wait a little bit, until after the fight and you see what happens because in this sport you never know what will happen. De La Hoya said.De La Hoya wished Marquez with "all of the luck in the world but said a trilogy fight would still need Golden Boy's approval.

Salido Gets his WBO Belt

WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel is in Mexico City to present featherweight champion Olando “Siri” Salido with his WBO belt. Also on hand were WBO execs Rafael López Santos and Luis Pérez, Top Rank’s Sean Gibbons and Zanfer’s Aldo Barba. Salido won the belt with an upset stoppage of Juanma Lopez.

Pacquiao will KO Mosley: Roach

Declaring Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao tip-top shape, trainer Freddie Roach said on Wednesday his prized Filipino fighter could be the first to knockout former five-time world champ "Sugar" Shane Mosley in the big-money fight on May 7 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

"We’re 100 percent ready for the fight. If Mosley brings his best we’re ready for his best. I don’t think there is any room for an upset," Roach said during an international conference call.

Roach said Mosley's attacking game is perfect for Pacquiao's "aggressive style," and confidently predicted that Pacman would win by knockout.

"I think all fights should end in knockouts so I’m looking for a knockout," said Roach, a five-time Trainer of the Year awardee of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Roach said he has prepared Pacquiao to deal with the best that Mosley brings to the ring, which is against come-forward foes who love to trade punches, like Antonio Margarito and Ricardo Mayorga who both ended up being stopped by Mosley in the late rounds.

"In the Margarito fight [Mosley] looked great and Margarito has an aggressive style like Manny and that’s how we’ll attack him," Roach said. "It will be a little more scientific, of course, but we’re ready for the best Shane Mosley out there.

But Pacquiao downplayed the knockout angle, insisting that Mosley at 39 "is still very strong and moves like he's 30 years old."

"We’re not focused for the knockout. All we do is work hard and if the knockout comes, it comes. We’ve prepared ourselves for fighting 12 rounds," said Pacquiao, the reigning best fighter in the world pound-for-pound.

"If the knockouts come, they come. What matters is the fight that we can give to the people and the fans. I want them to be happy and excited about our performance," said Pacquiao who has a guaranteed purse of $20 million against Mosley's $5 million in the sold-out fight.

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank assured that including their share of pay-per-view revenues, both Pacquiao and Mosley will be making "record paydays" in the Showtime-televised pay-per-view fight.

He said he considers the May 7 defense of his World Boxing Organization welterweight title "bigger" than his most recent fight against Margarito because Mosley "moves fast and he has good speed and power."

"That’s what I want. He throws a lot of punches. It will be good for us and it will be a good fight," added Pacquiao, the only fighter to win a record eight world titles in as many weight divisions.

Showing tremendous respect for his African American foe, Pacquiao described Mosley, a former pound-for-pound champ in his prime, as "a good fighter and a comeback fighter also. He was referring to Mosley stunning KO wins over Margarito and Mayorga when he was all but written off as by some boxing experts.

Mosley, who remains an 8-1 underdog by Las Vegas odd makers, said the underdog tag only motivates him even more "to shock the world" and beat Pacquiao decisively.

Mosley thinks he could hurt Pacquiao with some well-timed power shots when they trade punches in the middle of the ring.

"If Margarito, who is slow, could hit him with so many shots, think how I much more I could hit him," Mosley said. "Styles make fights, and I think I have what it takes to beat Pacquiao.

Mosley, who has a higher knockout rate than Pacquiao, then went on to predict he would stop Pacquiao "by the seventh round."

Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson, however, has a more realistic and strategic approach to the Pacquiao fight.

Conceding that Pacquiao is the best fighter of his era, Richardson thinks he has the antidote to Pacquiao's vaunted speed and explosiveness: exploit his flaws, which are few.

"This is a marathon, it's not a sprint. It doesn't matter who runs the fastest. In the end, it's only who finishes up the proper way [who wins]," he said in the last episode of Camp 360 aired by CBS and Showtime.

Richardson told Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole that Mosley -- a champion in three weight classes -- has the pedigree, the ability, the dedication and intelligence to beat anyone, including Pacquiao.

"Believe me, we understand that Pacquiao is a problem. He’s got a crazy amount of energy... The only attribute in boxing Manny Pacquiao doesn’t have is height and range," Richardson.

He then rattled off Pacman's attributes: ring generalship, movement, speed, power, one-punch power, and combination punching.

"He has everything except height and range," Richardson observed.

And the highly respected ring strategist thinks he has come up with a game plan to deal with a "problem" like Pacquiao.

"I agree that Pacquiao is a problem. He’s a special guy. We respect him tremendously. But you know what? We’re going to show up and we believe we can do it," Richardson said.

Fight analysis

Aware that the early rounds would be crucial, Pacquiao is expected to box and move a lot in the first four or five rounds, in much the same way when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in that career-defining victory in December 2009.

Expect Pacquiao to set a frenetic pace of moving in to throw punches in bunches and in angles and then withdrawing to stay out of Mosley power.

In contrast, Mosley will be looking to hurt Pacquiao in the early going for a possible upset. There will be furious exchanges between these two attack-minded protagonists.

At his age, Mosley is not as sharp and as quick as he was five year ago. He last two fights -- a lopsided decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr and a lackluster majority draw with light-punching Sergio Mora -- showed this once-elite champion is past his prime.

Can Mosley, who is known to have a solid chin and has not been seriously hurt even by bigger foes, summon the speed, power and ring savvy to upset the fastest and most explosive opponent he has ever fought in Pacquiao? At his best, Mosley out-boxed a prime De La Hoya twice, knocked out Fernando Vargas twice and held his own against bigger middleweight champ Winky Wright and the late welterweight star Vernon Forrest.

In contrast, Pacquiao has demonstrated a remarkable ability to stop bigger opponents, like Ricky Hatton, De La Hoya, and Miguel Cotto as he went up in weight. He has also taken the best shots of these and other foes despite the obvious size disadvantage.

Pacquiao, whose legacy as an all-time great boxer is fairly secured, is looking for a dramatic win over Mosley. As articulated by his trainer Roach, Pacman is looking to be the first to stop the durable Mosley. That way, he would prove to the world beyond any shadow of doubt that he is the greatest fighter of his era.

"I want Manny to make a statement in this fight," Roach told newsmen at a recent interview. I want Manny to be the first to knock out Mosley.

Some pundits speculate that a resounding victory by Pacquiao could force Mayweather to finally fight Pacman out of sheer pride. And even if that mega fight does not happen, the Filipino icon would have silenced the trash-taking Mayweather that he is the best fighter of his era, a recognition Floyd claims belong to him.

I see Pacquiao winning by technical knockout in the late rounds. If the fight goes the distance, it will still be a near-shutout for Pacman—in the same fashion he beat Margarito and the defense-minded Joshua Clottey.

Money Mayweather's felony hearing postponed!

Representatives of former pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather were in court for the second time this week earlier today, this time regarding the evidence hearing for his domestic abuse case, and for a third time the hearing was pushed back.

The preliminary hearing was initially scheduled for January and later March, and with the latest postponement is now set to take place on July 29th.
The case, which carries a maximum sentence of 34 years in prison all told, dates back to September of last year when Mayweather had a late night altercation with former girlfriend Josie Harris.

During the incident he allegedly assaulted her, threatened his children and stole a cell phone, leading to felony and misdemeanor charges including domestic abuse, grand larceny, coercion and robbery.

Mayweather is also facing a separate charge of misdemeanor battery over a later altercation with a security guard working for the homeowners association of the Las Vegas community where he lives. During this incident Mayweather allegedly poked the security guard in the face after a heated discussion over parking tickets.

The Rematch: Pacquiao vs Kimmel

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (April 29, 2011) -- Fighter of the Decade, eight-division world champion, and boxing's No. 1 pound for pound fighter and box office attraction Congressman MANNY "PacMan" PACQUIAO took time from training for his upcoming defense of his WBO welterweight title against three-division world champion Sugar Shane Mosley to make another boffo appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night. This was Pacquiao’s fourth consecutive appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in as many promotions, dating back to November 2009 when he knocked out Miguel Cotto to claim the welterweight title. That 2009 appearance also marked Pacquiao’s U.S. network TV debut, which has since led to a multitude of network television and radio features, including, of CBS’ 60 Minutes, ABC’s Good Morning America, FOX News Channel’s On The Record With Greta Van Susteren, CNN’s America Morning, and NPR’s Morning Edition and Weekend Edition

Pacquiao’s first U.S. single, a remake of Dan Hill 1977 hit Sometimes When We Touch, sung with Dan Hill, was released on Thursday as well. It sold out within 12 hours on Amazon.com which promptly reordered more to satisfy worldwide demand. It is also available on iTunes.