Boxing archive

Family, fans and fellow boxers said goodbye Tuesday to Hector (Macho) Camacho at a memorial and wake for the slain former world champion fighter known for his flamboyance in and out of the ring.

Hundreds of people took pictures and filed past Camacho's open casket, displayed inside a gymnasium decked out for the occasion with black carpet and curtains. The boxer wore white, along with a large gold crucifix and a necklace spelling out his nickname, "Macho," in capital letters.

First up were members of his immediate family, including his mother, Maria Matias, who wept and caressed her son's face in the coffin, which was draped in a Puerto Rican flag. "They killed him," she wailed at one point.

Camacho was shot Nov. 20 while sitting in a parked car with a friend outside a bar in Bayamon, his hometown. The friend died at the scene and the boxer three days later after doctors removed him from life support. Police have said they have suspects but have not yet arrested anyone for the shooting.

After the family came a cross-section of Puerto Rican society that included parents with children in strollers, the elderly, road crew workers in neon safety vests, U.S. soldiers in uniform and a who's who of Puerto Rican boxers.

As the service began, hundreds of people stood and clapped for nearly a minute. "What time is it?" someone in the crowd yelled. "It's Macho time!" the crowd responded.

"Everybody loved him here in Puerto Rico," said Henry Neumann, the secretary of the U.S. island territory's sports and recreation department. "He is one of those athletes who transcended the barriers of his country not only for his skill inside the ring but for his personality."

Hundreds of people waited patiently outside as officials closed the doors temporarily for the service. Loud salsa music pounded from speakers nearby, and a couple of vendors handed out Puerto Rican flags. Inside, people took advantage of the more than 30 former and current world boxing champions from Puerto Rico, yelling at them to come over for a picture or an autograph.

Above Camacho's casket was a large screen that showed some of his most famous bouts, along with clips of TV shows in which he appeared.

Camacho, who was 50 when he died, left Puerto Rico as a child and moved to New York. He went on to win super lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight world titles in the 1980s and fought high-profile bouts against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. He had a career record of 79-6-3 and was a showman in the ring, chanting "It's Macho time" before fights and wearing garish jewelry.
Battles with addiction

He battled drug and alcohol problems throughout his life and had frequent run-ins with police. When he was shot, police found an open package of cocaine in the car and nine unopened packages on his friend.

"No one deserves to die in such a manner, especially someone that has brought so much glory to Puerto Rico," said Jose Penagaricano, the former president of the island's boxing commission.

A police officer in Bayamon, Raul Nazario, recalled at the wake how he saw Camacho one day and drove over in his squad car to greet him, but the boxer fled. Later, out of uniform, the officer said he ran into him again and they exchanged a laugh and Camacho posed with him for a photo.

"For Puerto Rican people he was something great," Nazario said.

Many of those in attendance had similar personal encounters. Doris Correa, a 71-year-old from the town of Vega Baja, showed a photo she took of Camacho in the 1980s, when her family and his happened to be camping in the same campground in the island's southwest. At one point, he grabbed a microphone, declared "it's Macho time," and began singing for everyone. "Back then, we didn't know what karaoke was," she said. "He invented it."

Boxer Juan Manuel (Juanma) Lopez, one of several dozen fighters on hand to say goodbye, recalled Camacho's dazzling speed in the ring. "He was definitely a showman," he said. "It was something grandiose."

The president of the World Boxing Organization, Francisco Valcarcel, said Camacho opened the door for many other Puerto Rican boxers.

"No one in this world is perfect, and Macho was not perfect," he said. "But Macho paved the road."

The memorial and wake was scheduled to last two days.

Camacho's godson, Widniel Adorno, said the boxer's body will be flown to New York on Thursday, and that a funeral is scheduled for the weekend.


Family, fellow boxers remember Hector Camacho as 'showman'

Hector Camacho RIP. It's sad.

The Ring, WBA, WBC and super middleweight champ Andre Ward will defend his belts against former titlist Kelly Pavlik on January 26 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.

Ward (26-0, 14 KOs), a Bay Area native who became the first American to capture boxing gold in eight years as a light heavyweight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, easily retained his belts by battering formidable Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight titleholder “Bad” Chad Dawson en route to achieving a 10th round TKO on September 8 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

Prior to dominating Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs), “The Son of God” unified two belts and won The Super Six World Boxing Classic when he trumped Carl Froch by unanimous decision on December 17 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

The 28-year-old Ward, voted in the wintertime as the 2011 “Fighter of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), has unbelievably not vacated the squared circle on the losing end of a bout since he was a 12-year-old amateur.

“The Son of God,” currently rated by Ring Magazine as the fifth pound-for-pound boxer in the world, is now in position to become a national superstar and household name like fellow American gold medalists Muhammad Ali, “Sugar” Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya.

Roger “Pit” Perron is a venerable boxing trainer from Brockton (Mass.) who now works with Mike and Rich Cappiello at their gym, Cappiello Brothers Boxing and Training.

Perron praised Ward and predicts “The Son of God” will outclass all challengers for the foreseeable future.

“Ward clearly sticks out in the division,” said Perron, 75, who worked with International Boxing Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler at the Petronelli Brothers Gym. “He had just a great performance his last time out. There’s no telling when, or if, he’ll next lose.”

Conversely, Pavlik (40-2, 34 KOs), who on June 8 bludgeoned a mouthy Scott “Cujo” Sigmon en route to a seventh round TKO victory, battled for the third time in 2012 in July when he earned a unanimous decision triumph over “Power” Will Rosinsky on HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” card at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

To date, “The Ghost,” whose only losses as a professional came at the hands of legendary pugilist Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2-1, 32 KOs) and 2010 “Fighter of the Year” Sergio Martinez (47-2-2, 25 KOs), has maintained his pledge to remain active and avoid trouble.

Pavlik’s aggressive schedule is prudent and extremely encouraging.

"Andre Ward's a hell of a world champ," said Pavlik, 30, who battles alcoholism and underwent two major surgeries on his left hand in 2009. "He's the super middleweight king right now. He went through a tough tournament and proved where he's at. He beat everybody that he was supposed to fight and he's top dog. When I was (middleweight) champ, I was the one being pursued. Now he's (super middleweight) champ and I'm in hot pursuit."

Jeff Lyons is a boxing fanatic who possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of The Sweet Science.

The native South Bostonian admitted to being excited for Pavlik.

“I’m really happy for Pavlik,” said Lyons, 32. “His comeback has been a real feel good story. With that said, Ward is extremely good. With Ward’s resume, when it’s all said and done, we are looking at a top 20 all-time boxer.”

Unfortunately for Kelly Pavlik, "Andre Ward's a hell of a world champ" who will utterly overwhelm the troubled Ohioan this winter.



Andre Ward will officially embarrass Kelly Pavlik in January - Boston Boxing | Examiner-com

Hip hop artist and rap star 50 Cent says boxing's demographic skews too old, and he believes he's the right person to help it grow young again.

Meet 50 Cent, boxing promoter.

The rap mogul, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, will get a chance to put a lot more than pocket change on the line next week as he descends on Las Vegas with his fledgling company, SMS Promotions, and his exciting young boxer, undefeated Yuriorkis Gamboa, who will fight on the undercard of the Dec. 8 Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez pay-per-view card at the MGM Grand.

50 Cent wants people to know that while he will continue to move forward with his music career â?? he has a new album soon to be released â?? he is not in the boxing business as a lark.

"I'm passionate about (boxing)," he told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday, prior to his media day with Gamboa at the Fortune Gym in Hollywood. "I want to make exciting fights. I want to be part of the history of boxing, not just play around a little bit, and then jump out."

People expected him to jump out, he believes, following his very public falling out with longtime friend and short-time business partner Floyd Mayweather Jr., in a Twitter war of words several weeks ago.

The two traded online blows after Mayweather's ultimately declined to ante up his share of their original partnered promotional company, TMT (The Money Team). 50 Cent said they knew they had to pay big bucks to Top Rank Promotions for the rights to Gamboa â?? $1.2 million to be exact. Mayweather backed out.

But 50 Cent moved ahead with his own company, SMS Promotions, and signed three fighters â?? Gamboa, Andre Dirrell and Billy Dibs. He said they will soon announce the signing of two more fighters. And he became licensed to promote in New Jersey and Las Vegas, two key boxing states.

"A lot of people expected me to pull out immediately after Floyd decided not to," said Fifty, who survived being shot and struck with nine bullets. "Fighters didn't come to TMT (now SMS) Promotions feeling secure about Floyd's business acumen.

"They respect Floyd as an actual fighter and where he's at in his career, but they're excited about my knowledge and brand extension opportunities, because they're aware that (former heavyweight champion) George Foreman made more money selling a grill than boxing."

Efforts to reach for Floyd for comment were unsuccessful.

Rapper respects Top Rank

50 Cent acknowledged ups and downs since his arrival in the boxing business. Some have been receptive to the idea of a hip hop star as promoter, he says.

"They understand how it can bring new life into the sport," he says. "But some were intimidated by it. I had people immediately make me their enemy."

Fifty said Top Rank Promotions, with whom he is working on the Pacquiao-Marquez card, has welcomed him.

"Particularly (Top Rank chairman) Bob Arum," the rapper said. "He's the 800-pound gorilla. He's one of the guys . . . that's why he's so successful. Top Rank has been one of the companies that's willing to support fighters and actually invest in them. That's why your top fighters today have Top Rank in common, whether it's Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, (Miguel) Cotto, (Timothy) Bradley, they all went through Top Rank."

Communicating with people such as Top Rank President Todd duBoef has helped 50 Cent get his bearings.

"He's a smart guy. These guys pay really close attention to what's going on, and I just like to see what their thoughts are moving forward," he said.

The music mogul, who is considering moving his base of operations from New York to Las Vegas, said there are similarities between the music and boxing industries. One is that there's lots of young talent in both areas that often does not have more experienced people around to help them make good decisions early on.

"What's really cool though, is hip hop culture is a youthful-driven art form, and the connection with youth is a demographic that needs to be brought into boxing," he said. "Like the UFC â?? their demographic is that 56% of the fans watching are 15-34 years old.

"Boxing's demo is 30 and up. At a boxing match you look in those first rows and all you see are suits and really nice dresses. Boxing is more traditional, but they need to bring youth into it, and get them involved. And they will be when they see people in it with connections to other platforms.

"I think I can completely bring youthfulness into it."

Expand the brand

50 Cent mentions undefeated super middleweight champion Andre Ward, who was a former Olympic teammate and remains a friend of his fighter, Dirrell. Ward's manager is James Prince, known in the hip hop world as J Prince, the CEO of Rap-a-Lot Records in Houston.

"When that fight is made, there's going to be excitement from areas and people who don't usually tune in to it," 50 Cent said, "because they're going to feel it's 50 Cent vs. J Prince. Not just Ward vs. Dirrell."

He hopes such a fight can be made as soon as possible. It had been tossed around for a few years before Dirrell suffered an injury in the Super Six World Boxing Classic that kept him out of the ring for nearly two years.

"Andre Ward may want to wait a little while, though," Fifty said. "Nobody is in a hurry to lose. You got to make the real tough matchups in order to make the sport exciting."

As for Mayweather, 50 Cent said the investment dispute caused a rift. But he says what damaged the relationship had nothing to do with money.

"Floyd is like a brother to me. I'm an only child, and we have a relationship, we're close," he said, "but I'm upset with him more because when his son broke his arm, he didn't call me or text me and let me know exactly what was going on. (It was) more about that than actually deciding not to be partners."

Fifty doesn't like what he perceives to be negligence among the people around Mayweather, who made $85 million in his last two fights for a little more than o

Andrew Flintoff entered the ring a former England cricketer but left a heavyweight boxer after overcoming a second-round knockdown to beat American Richard Dawson on his professional debut.

The 34-year-old, who had previously led England to an Ashes series triumph against Australia with a bat and ball in his hand, won by a single point on the referee's scorecard at the Manchester Arena.

Flintoff took the fight to Dawson from the first bell and recovered well from hitting the canvas for the first time since he started training four-and-half months ago.

The former Lancashire all-rounder walked to the ring wearing his country cricket top to the sound of Oasis' Roll With It and the crowd of around 6,000 did their best to recreate the electric atmosphere produced in the same venue last Saturday for Ricky Hatton's unsuccessful comback.

Flintoff had been training under the tutelage of Barry McGuigan and his son Shane and had shed over three stone over four-and-a-half months before weighing in 25lbs lighter than Dawson.

His decision to take up the sport at a professional level had been widely criticised, particularly by British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price who stopped Matt Skelton earlier in the evening in Liverpool.

The British Boxing Board of Control granted him a licence at the second time of asking and general secretary Robert Smith was in attendance, all too aware no doubt at the ramifications if the home favourite was badly beaten up.

Read more: Andrew Flintoff wins boxing match against Richard Dawson | Mail Online
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Austin Trout retained his World Boxing Association junior middleweight world title Saturday, remaining unbeaten with a 12-round unanimous decision over Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto.

In a closely contested bout, Trout finished strongly to hand Cotto a first defeat at Madison Square Garden, the landmark New York arena where Cotto had won seven previous bouts.

Judges Steve Weisfeld and John Poturaj saw it 117-111 for Trout while Adelaide Byrd scored it 119-109 for Trout, who improved to 26-0 with 14 knockouts.

"I knew some of the rounds were close," Trout said. "I felt like I pulled out a lot of rounds, but you never know in a close round."

Cotto, a three-division world champion, fell to 37-4 with 30 wins inside the distance.

Trout rattled Cotto with a hard left in the first round. As the action heated up in the fourth it suited Cotto.

The second half of the fight saw more intensity from both men. Trout was impressive in the 10th and again in the 11th, when he continued to pummel Cotto's face, and the final round saw several furious exchanges.

Cotto, fighting in his adopted hometown, was an overwhelming favorite among the crowd of more than 13,000 but even he looked resigned after the final bell.

His face battered, Cotto knelt in a corner of the ring as Trout's corner lifted their man aloft as the fighters waited to hear the decision.

"I've been waiting for this moment my whole career," said Trout, who despite his unbeaten status had yet to cement his place among the division's elite.

"You do get anxious when you fight a guy like him, but it motivates you, too.

"I had to show him I was the bigger guy and push him back a couple times. I kept pushing him back to show him he had no advantage."

It was a second successive defeat for the 32-year-old Cotto, who dropped a unanimous decision to unbeaten Floyd Mayweather in May.

Cotto had insisted that fight, although he lost, "rejuvenated" him.

But Saturday's defeat cast doubt on a planned Cotto bout with World Boxing Council 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez of Mexico.

Alvarez was at ringside, and Trout made it clear he wants a shot at the Mexican star.

"Hey, Canelo, I want you Canelo," Trout said. "It's time to unify this division. I need that strap off his waist."



Boxing: Austin Trout stays unbeaten with decision over Miguel Cotto - The Times of India

Muhammad Ali, former world heavyweight boxing champion and widely considered to be the greatest pugilist of all time, will be named "King of Boxing" at the 50th convention of the World Boxing Council (WBC).

The convention begins Monday in Mexico`s Caribbean coastal resort of Cancun.


The "crowning" of Ali will be one of the main events at the convention celebrating the 50th year of the WBC, which is headed by Mexican Jose Sulaiman.

The WBC, which will meet from Dec 3-8, said that Ali will be present in Cancun and that his proclamation as "King of Boxing" will take place at a ceremony that will be attended by about 100 world champs and ex-champs.


"It will be a recognition for an entire life of greatness. There`s nobody in the world who has done what Ali has done," Sulaiman said before the Cancun convention.

Sulaiman, who has been WBC president since 1975, said that Ali deserves the honour "which he needs more" at this point in his life. The former world champion has suffered from Parkinson`s for years.

In addition to recognizing Ali, at the convention the WBC will review matters designed to strengthen boxing.

The WBC was founded in 1963 by then-Mexican president Adolfo Lopez Mateos.


Muhammad Ali to be proclaimed king of boxing

Curtis Jackson is a former boxer, so perhaps the stamina he showed on Thursday shouldn't have been all that surprising. Jackson, the hip hop and rap star whose stage name is 50 Cent, clearly displayed an extraordinary aptitude for his new job as a fight promoter.

Jackson stood in the middle of a sweaty boxing gym in Los Angeles, on his feet for hours, reeling off the same answers to the same questions time after time. His genius is that he has the uncanny ability to make each interviewer feel special, as if he were getting something new, different and better than the rest.

The ability to find new solutions to old problems, as well as his salesmanship, is what has made Jackson one of the most successful under-40 entrepreneurs in the world.

His sales ability and business savvy might just be the variable that finally, after more than three years of agonizing and often bizarre negotiations, brings Mayweather and Pacquiao to meet in what would be the richest boxing match in history.

Pacquiao has business to take care of ahead of a potential Mayweather fight, though. On Saturday, he'll meet Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time in a pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand Garden. Their first three bouts were exceptionally fast-paced and action packed, but no matter what he did, Pacquiao hasn't been able to conclusively defeat Marquez.

A win Saturday and once again talk will pick back up about if and when Pacquiao will face Mayweather.

Jackson is positioned perfectly to make the fight happen. He's been Mayweather's long-time friend, but as a boxing fan he wants to see his buddy fight Pacquiao as badly as anyone.

He started to make manoeuvres toward getting the fight done more than a year ago. He finally came up with the idea of creating a promotional company with Mayweather that they were going to call TMT Promotions. Working together, Jackson thought, might be the way to get the fight made.

But when Mayweather elected not to invest his half of the money in the star-up, Jackson walked away and created his own company, SMS Promotions.

Jackson signed former featherweight and super featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa to a promotional deal, then quickly worked out arrangements with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum to get Gamboa onto the Saturday card featuring Pacquiao and Marquez.

"This is going to be a huge night for Gamboa, and a bigger night for boxing," Jackson said. "The kid can fight. I mean, he can fight. It's always good for boxing when you have exciting fights and that's what Gamboa's going to give."

Jackson scoffed when it was noted that all three of the fighters he signed – Gamboa, Andre Dirrell and Billy Dib – were poor ticket sellers and attracted few TV viewers.

Jackson promised to turn them into ticket sellers in short order.

If he's able to do it, it will be a feat akin to what he pulled off last month on QVC, the home shopping channel, where in nine minutes he sold $177,000 worth of headphones.

"I just made 177,000 dollars in 9min on QVC," he wrote on Twitter. "Can someone hate on me so I can know this is real life."

The next day he was back on QVC selling those same headphones as if they were bottles of water on a hot day in Las Vegas. He put up with the inane banter from the hosts because he was making extraordinary amounts of money as they yakked about his headphones and grovelled about his stardom.

If he's going to play a role in getting the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight done, he'll have to find a way to make sense of the incomprehensible. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake and seemingly trivial issues are derailing the bout.

One of the big issues, Jackson said, is that Mayweather is incensed at how much money Pacquiao would make. Mayweather offered Pacquiao a flat $40 million for the fight, which would represent the highest purse of Pacquiao's career.

For a fight this big, even $40 million is a low-ball offer, and anyone with a modicum of business sense knows Pacquiao would have been foolish to accept that deal. But Jackson said Mayweather gets irate that fighters make so much money fighting him.

Mayweather, Jackson believes, wants the majority of the earnings for himself.

"Having to pay that kind of money really irritates Floyd," Jackson said. "He feels that when someone is making more money than they ever made, they shouldn't be asking for more. He feels like he's the star and he should be making the money and they should be thanking him for what he's willing to pay them."

He said Mayweather is "hand-picking opponents" and "looking for a reason not to take the [Pacquiao] fight."

This is a contrast to how Jackson perceives his role as a promoter: to make the fights fans want to see. He lavishes praise upon Top Rank for its way of doing business, and notes that Golden Boy does a good job.

But Jackson says few other promoters invest in their business and aren't willing to put their fighters in situations that could potentially hurt their investment.

"These guys have one fighter, one meal ticket, and you ask them if they want to fight and they aren't willing to take a risk with a guy like Gamboa unless they're at the end of the line and there are no other options," he said. "They want to protect what they have, and make sure their meal ticket keeps producing.

"Me, I look at it like this: We're going to make stars by putting our fighters in exciting fights. People want to see the best fighters fight each other and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to invest in my fighters and invest in marketing them and promoting them, so we build an audience for them. I'm not going to sit around and let some TV guy tell me who my guy should fight and when and where."

It's smart business. He already looks better than the vast majority of promoters and he hasn't put on a show of his own yet.

If he can iron out the details and get the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight done, that's going to be nearly as impressive a feat as

Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg caught up with his buddy Tie Domi in Toronto on Tuesday and tempted the retired NHL enforcer with a friendly bout in the boxing ring.

"Hey, Tie Domi, I'm officially challenging you," Wahlberg, who co-produced and starred in the 2010 Oscar-nominated boxing flick "The Fighter," told Domi when the tough-guy hockey player called him on his cellphone during an interview.

"Because there's no hockey, I'm officially challenging you to a fight at the Air Canada Centre. Are you in or not? …Don't duck me."

Wahlberg, who was in Toronto to talk about his upcoming film "Broken City" and do a youth charity event, then gave Domi the number of the downtown hotel room he was in with his entourage.

"We're gonna have to open the double doors so your head can fit through," quipped Wahlberg, 41, in his native Boston accent.

Hanging up, he then said: "He's been ducking me, so make sure you put it out in the newspapers."

Domi did indeed show up to the hotel room, giving Wahlberg a hug before exchanging mock fisticuffs. He told reporters the feisty Hollywood star often poses such challenges to him.

Wahlberg said the two have been friends since he was 18, when he met Domi on his first visit to Toronto to perform a concert with his rap group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

"He's fun because obviously he's a big hockey fighter but boxing and hockey is pretty different. You can't hold somebody's shirt and punch with the other hand, and there's no body protection, no equipment in boxing," said Wahlberg, a 2007 best supporting actor Oscar nominee for "The Departed."

"I don't want to fight him on skates, I want to fight him in the ring. But I pose the challenge right now."

Wahlberg, whose mother is French Canadian and Irish, could skate if he had to, though.

"I hadn't skated for, like, 15 years and then I was doing 'Four Brothers' and I had to skate again, so I started skating all the time and then we shot it up here, which was fun, so we'd go to a lot of the rinks," he said.

"It was funny because there was a hockey strike then. What's going on?"

"Broken City," which stars Wahlberg as a fallen cop who runs into trouble when he helps out the city's mayor (Russell Crowe), opens across Canada on Jan. 18.



Mark Wahlberg challenges Tie Domi to friendly boxing match

The erratic state of drug testing in boxing is perhaps best revealed in the absence of scrutiny faced by Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez before their Saturday fight.

Neither boxer has submitted a blood or urine sample.

"I would like uniform testing, but there's no plan," said veteran fight promoter Gary Shaw, who is not involved in the Pacquiao-Marquez bout. "It has to start with the boxing commissions, and they have to get serious about it. Barry Bonds, he was hitting baseballs for home runs. Our guys are hitting brains."

One drug-testing group is the Nevada-based Volunteer Anti-Doping Assn., which asks fighters if they will submit to testing before their bouts.

This year VADA collected positive tests that caused two significant fights to be scrapped. Junior-welterweight champion Lamont Peterson tested positive for synthetic testosterone, causing his May 19 title defense against Amir Khan to be canceled.

Former welterweight champion Andre Berto's sample tested positive for a steroid, forcing him out of a June fight against Victor Ortiz at Staples Center, angering Berto's promoter, Golden Boy.

Yet, the California State Athletic Commission licensed Berto to fight in November after his attorney claimed the small steroid level indicated contamination in the boxer's test sample.

Since then, Golden Boy stopped working with VADA and is associating with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to test fighters.

USADA discovered the banned weight-loss substance clenbuterol in former world champion Erik Morales, but Golden Boy and the New York State Athletic Commission let Morales' junior-welterweight title shot proceed in October against Danny Garcia. Garcia won by fourth-round knockout.

On Nov. 27, USADA informed Morales he faces a two-year competition ban because the second B drug sample he provided was also positive for clenbuterol.

"What happened in New York was ludicrous," said promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank, who advocates that the Assn. of Boxing Commissions install a system in which state commissions alone preside over testing, billing promoters for the fees.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao and Marquez never sought drug testing before this fight, so Arum — who is their promoter — said he did not pursue the expense.

Keith Kizer, executive officer of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, said he exercises discretion in drug testing, sometimes implementing random tests such as the one that nabbed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title contender Alistair Overeem for elevated testosterone earlier this year.

Marquez has noticeably bulked up for Saturday's fight and his conditioning coach is Angel "Memo" Heredia, a former steroid supplier to Olympic track stars, who later became a government witness.

Kizer said his commission opted not to randomly test Pacquiao or Marquez. They've never tested positive, Kizer noted, and the commission will conduct standard pre- and post-fight drug tests.

When Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach last week said he suspected Marquez of not bulking up naturally, Marquez responded that the Nevada commission can "test me now."

"The fight's going to happen in days," Arum said. "If someone's been working 11 weeks and went through a cycle" of using performance-enhancing drugs, "that cycle's over.

"It's not for me to live with," Arum added. "This is for the regulators."



Boxing has no standard for drug testing - latimes-com

Amateur boxing's international body has suspended the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) after reports of "manipulation" of the IABF elections.

The order comes days after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was suspended for elections in which officials accused of corruption were appointed.

Abhay Singh Chautala, chairman of the boxing federation, was elected the new IOA president.

An Indian boxing official said that the election was "transparent".

India won six medals at London 2012, including one for boxing.

The world body, AIBA, said in a press statement that "further to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC's) suspension imposed on the IOA, the AIBA has decided today [6 December 2012] to provisionally suspend the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF)". It said the suspension was also due to the fact that AIBA had learned about "possible manipulation" of the recent IABF election.

"AIBA will now investigate this election and specially a potential political link between IOA president, as former chairman of the IABF, and the IABF election," the statement added.

Mr Chautala's brother-in-law Abhishek Matoria, the new IABF president, said amateur boxing's international body had been informed of the election process in detail.

"Those who got elected were unanimous choices and just because there was unanimity, the AIBA cannot allege manipulation," Press Trust of India quoted Mr Matoria as saying.

After the International Olympic Committee suspended the IOA on Tuesday and declared its elections void, the IOA still went ahead with its controversial elections.

It appointed Mr Chautala as president and Lalit Bhanot as secretary-general in the poll held late on Wednesday.

Lalit Bhanot spent 11 months in custody last year on corruption charges linked to the event before he was released on bail.

Abhay Singh Chautala, the IOA's new president, has close links to former incumbent Suresh Kalmadi, who is also on bail over similar charges.

The ban prevents athletes competing for India at future Olympics.

There has been outrage in India, with some calling it an "Olympian shame".



BBC News - Indian Boxing Federation suspended

Nicole Polizzi, better known as Snooki, the drama queen of MTV's Jersey Shore, has thrown her hat into the ring and become a boxing promoter.

She and her father, Andy Polizzi, represent fighter Patrick Hyland, a featherweight who hails from Dublin and fights on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez welterweight extravaganza Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Hyland, who's undefeated (27-0, 12 KOs) takes on Javier Fortuna (20-0-1, 15 KOs) in a 12-round interim featherweight title fight.

As the owner of Team Snooki Boxing, Polizzi has two other fighters in her stable: Hyland's brothers Eddie and Paul.

Team Snooki made its debut on a Jan. 28 card in, where else? New Jersey, at a casino near Atlantic City. He has fought and won twice since then.

Polizzi tweeted Friday that she was on her way to Las Vegas to join her fighter for his Vegas debut. It's the opener on HBO's pay-per-view card.

Polizzi, who has said she doesn't really know that much about the sport but hopes to learn, said don't expect her to train for a fight or to get in the ring for any reason other than promoting.

"I'm not messing up this pretty face," she told ESPN.com. "Helping out my dad is No. 1. Me and my dad are like best friends; I'm a daddy's girl."

Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez knocked Manny Pacquiao out cold with a vicious right hand at the end of the sixth round tonight, putting a sudden end to the fourth fight between the two boxers.

Pacquiao had been down in the third round but knocked Marquez down in the fifth and the two were exchanging heavy blows in the sixth round before Marquez threw a right hand that flattened Pacquiao face down on the canvas at 2:59 of the sixth round.

The referee waved the fight to an end as Marquez celebrated and the sold-out crowd at the MGM erupted. Pacquiao was down for about two minutes before the Filipino's handlers managed to get him up.

World famous rapper 50 Cent has an idea to make professional boxing regain some of its past popularity. That suggestion is to become more like World Wrestling Entertainment. In an article with USA today, the rapper turned boxing promoter suggested the sport entwine some WWE like theatrics to spice up the struggling sport. 50 Cent went on to state that the mainstream public doesn't question the validity of boxing like they do professional wrestling. Although the short article doesn't go too in depth, the blanket statements made by 50 Cent may hold some truth and some fallacy.

It's true that boxing may need to step up their overall game if they want to compete with the combative, circus like World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Vince McMahon transformed pro wrestling in the mid eighties and revolutionized the sport that was formerly held in smoky bingo halls across the country. The Ultimate Fighting Championship league followed suite several years later. The flashier more pronounced representation led to a lucrative television series, engrossing merchandise deals and high pay per view buy rates. Professional boxing has been dragging its feet and hasn't hoped onto the sports entertainment bandwagon. If history is any indication, what worked for WWE and UFC, could also work for boxing.

On the other hand, 50 Cent also mentioned that boxing will not suffer from a more sports entertainment atmosphere because the public does not question the validity of professional boxing. This statement is untrue. For several years there has been reports of boxers taking a dive and mysterious phantom punches. If boxing does add more entertainment to their pay per views and programming, they do run a risk of being lumped into the predetermined world of pro wrestling.

If you need proof of this possibility, one needs to look no further than Vince McMahon's foray into football. His XFL league took a more sports entertainment approach to pro ball. Despite being legitimate, the American public found the XFL to be tainted because of its new approach. The XFL didn't last more than one season and is widely considered a flop. 50 Cent is correct when he says boxing needs to add some entertainment to make it more hip and relevant. But they have to tread lightly, as it can make or break the already fractured sport.




50 Cent says boxing should be more like WWE - Boston Pro Wrestling | Examiner-com

Two-division champion Arturo "Thunder" Gatti and five-time world champion Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill headline the 2013 class for the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Gatti finished his career in 2007 with a record of 40-9 (31 KOs) and passed away under a cloud of suspicion in 2009. He is best remembered for winning two of three brutal fights with Micky Ward from 2002-03.

Hill was a silver medalist at the 1984 Olympics and went 49-7 (23 KOs) during his 13-year career.

Two-time light flyweight champion Myung-Woo Yuh, referee Mills Lane, ring announcer Jimmy Lennon, Jr., and journalist Colin Hart are also among the 2013 class, which was voted on by members of the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians.

Other posthumous honorees include: Wesley Ramey and Jeff Smith in the Old- Timer Category; manager Arturo "Cuyo" Hernandez in the Non Participant Category; cartoonist Ted Carroll in the Observer Category; and Joe Coburn in the Pioneer Category.

The 24th annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for June 9 in Canastota, New York.

Read more: Gatti, Hill among Boxing Hall of Fame inductees | Fox News

First Bobby Thomson, then Jerry West, then Dwight Clark. Now this.

Sometimes in sports a moment transcends the moment. A home run is greater than a shot heard 'round the world or a desperation jump shot is greater than a 60-foot heave or a catch is greater than "The Catch."

When Juan Manuel Marquez's right glove violently sent a shock through the ethmoid, lacrimal and zygomatic bones of Manny Pacquiao's skull with one second left in Round 6 of what easily will unconditionally be considered the fight of the year, you could see the entire sport of boxing go down face-first.

Just like Pacquiao. And as he lay there motionless for the minutes that followed, you could see boxing's future leave the ring like a spirit going to the heavens. Or in the other direction. It all depends on how you feel about the future of boxing.

Marquez's knockout was the best thing to ever happen to his career, but the last thing boxing needed. With that one punch, away went two major components that somehow managed to hold the sport together:

1. The mystique, intrigue and rabid interest in one of the only two fighters carrying the sport and the second-biggest draw in the game (Pacquiao).
2. Any continued fiending for the greatest fight that never was: Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr.

What Marquez landed was much more than a right hand. He landed a punch that forced an entire sport to ask: "Now what?"

It's over. Done. Fin. The future of boxing was already on suicide watch because of a common belief in fixed outcomes, and on proverbial life-support because of the continued growing interest in MMA and UFC fighting -- even before Manny-Juan Manuel IV. The anti-boxing crowd had already begun to dance, arms up like the Rocky statue or Ali after finishing Liston.

This fight will prove pivotal in the direction of the sport. What fight is there on the horizon that non-die-hard boxing aficionados are going to care about? What boxer outside of Mayweather Jr. is going to step into the ring and make us believe he is going to display something we've never seen before while at the same time making us feel that we may be witnessing something or someone historic?

Answers to those two questions: none. And those are the unanswered realities being held against the sport as well as the realities needing answers that boxing desperately needs to survive. Right now, questions are all the sport is hanging on to.

Unlike, say, tennis -- if Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer both go down, there's still enough universal interest in Novak Djokovic and maybe Andy Murray to keep the sport from extinction. And unlike golf -- Tiger Woods' slow fade has been illuminated by flashes of prodigious genius by Rory McIlroy, generating global interest and fanfare. Boxing does not have that level of talent, much less possible Hall of Famers in the wings to carry the sport during what could be its darkest hour.

No disrespect to Andre Ward, Tim Bradley Jr. or Sergio Martinez (at age 37), but they are not the answer.

Yet Monday in USA Today, and on various sports and boxing blogs, there seemed to be a sense of hope that Marquez-Pacquiao V would draw major interest. Some observers even posited IV was somehow more good for boxing than it was bad. Promoter Bob Arum had the audacity to say, "This fight shows the health of the sport. It puts the sport back in the mainstream."

Delusion is a helluva drug.

This is either the new beginning or the end of boxing. Every round was exciting, dramatic and both. If boxing goes back to the style on display in this fight, the sport could easily regain the audience it once had and bring back some of the people who left to follow MMA, UFC and badminton. But Pacquiao's losing and losing the way he did (which cannot be stressed enough!) put the whole future of the sport in an unpromising holding pattern.

A friend of mine said afterwards: "Now I have to find a new sport to watch."

That's a succinct diagnosis of the damage caused by one punch. That punch sent the possibility of a fight to save a sport (Mayweather-Pacquiao) and the buzz/interest around it to the sports morgue. That punch evaporated all the time available for young boxers to bridge the gap between boxing's major issues today and the bouts we're now not interested in tomorrow.

Then there's all the other things Marquez's punch did.

It's all so Shakespearean. Beautifully tragic. Which in boxing's case, is not necessarily a good thing, because this fight exposed just how vulnerable the sport actually is.


Manny Pacquiao lays bare questions about boxing - ESPN

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti didn't live to see his finest day.

Gatti, who won world championships in two different weight classes, heads the class of 2013 to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The honor, announced Monday, comes three years after his untimely death. A native of Calabria, Italy who was raised in Montreal, Gatti retired in 2007 with a record of 40-9 with 31 knockouts and was selected in his first year of eligibility. Gatti died three years ago in Brazil at age 37 under mysterious circumstances.

"He gave it all in the ring," said "Irish" Micky Ward, who had three memorable bouts with Gatti. "He gave everything to the sport of boxing. He gave the fans what they wanted."

Also selected for induction were: Virgil "Quicksilver" Hill, a five-time world champion who won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics and defended his light heavyweight title 20 times over his two reigns; two-time light flyweight champion Myung-Woo Yuh of South Korea; lightweight Wesley Ramey and middleweight Jeff Smith in the old-timer (posthumous) category; 19th century Irish boxer Joe Coburn in the pioneer category; referee Mills Lane; ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr.; manager Arturo "Cuyo" Hernandez; cartoonist Ted Carroll; and journalist Colin Hart.

Inductees were selected by the Boxing Writers Association and a panel of international boxing historians. Induction ceremonies will be held June 9 at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y.

His relentless style made Gatti a crowd favorite.

"Arturo was a throwback-type fighter like (Jake) LaMotta or (Rocky) Graziano," Ward said. "He could also switch it off. He could brawl if he had to, and he could box as well as anybody. He had them both."

Ward won the first junior welterweight fight against Gatti, blood streaming down his face as he captured a majority decision in May 2002. Gatti avenged the loss in Atlantic City, N.J., knocking Ward down in the third with a punch that shattered one of Ward's eardrums and sent him face-first into a stanchion. Gatti broke his right hand in the fight and won a unanimous 10-round decision.

Gatti, who moved to Jersey City, N.J., as a teenager, triumphed over Ward with a 10-round decision in the rubber match in June 2003, and it was another brutal slugfest. It wasn't a title fight but had that feel as a raucous sellout crowd of 12,643 -- the largest ever for a non-heavyweight fight in Atlantic City -- packed Boardwalk Hall.

Gatti became a legend in New Jersey, and fans flocked to Atlantic City for years to see his fights. His bouts became an event in that seaside town, something the whole region rallied around. Gatti became the first draw to attract more than 100,000 fans through the Boardwalk Hall turnstiles since it reopened in 2001.

As such, he is often credited as reinvigorating the state's proud passion for the sport, and Boardwalk Hall is often referred to, in fight circles, as "The House of Gatti."

In the famous 2003 fight, Gatti was in control for most of the bout, outpunching Ward and never allowing him to get close enough to throw one of his signature left hooks to the body.

Bleeding from an early pounding, Ward rallied after Gatti reinjured the right hand he'd broken seven months earlier. Over the last four rounds the exhausted fighters stood toe-to-toe, teeing off on one another. After the fight, the two shared a bottle of water and hugged, then went to Atlantic City Medical Center, where they lay side-by-side in the emergency room while being treated.

Gatti died in Brazil in July 2009. His body was found at an apartment that he had rented with his wife and their infant son in the seaside resort of Porto de Galinhas. Police initially held Gatti's wife as a suspect but eventually released her and concluded Gatti hung himself from a staircase railing using a handbag strap.

"The Hall of Fame is fitting for a guy who worked so hard and gave his all to the sport," said Pat Lynch, Gatti's manager. "It was an honor and a privilege for me to have managed him his entire career."

For a boxer who grew up in North Dakota, took home an Olympic silver as a middleweight, and won 50 fights as a pro, being selected for the Hall of Fame was his crowning achievement.

"It's the biggest honor that's ever been bestowed upon me," Hill said. "It's more than winning the five world titles and the Olympic silver medal. It's the biggest thing -- outside of my children and wife -- that's ever happened to me. It's such an honor. I know this would have meant so much to my father (who died a year ago).

This was a big thing for him. You have no idea."



Arturo Gatti, Virgil Hill, Mills Lane elected to Boxing Hall of Fame - ESPN

On the arm of a lovely lady dressed more for a mardi-gras than a weigh-in, Hika Elliot looked surprisingly at ease as he was guided into the glamorous surrounds of Sky City.

Elliot may be more used to packing down in a scrum than entering a packed room of camera-phone wielding fans and a throng of media, but the Chiefs' hooker was capably playing the part required of a modern boxer.

The All Black was perhaps the calmest of the athletes answering Colonel Bob Sheridan's questions on stage at the Fight for Life weigh-in today, showing a steadiness usually reserved for a lineout throw.

Some of league's hardest men insisted they were feeling no fear but their delivery at times belied their words. Cronulla Sharks' enforcer Paul Gallen, for one, probably has cause for concern.

He has been handed the unenviable task of facing Elliot, an imposing figure who weighed in nine kilograms heavier than the Australian.

In addition to his physical prowess, Elliot also has something of a fighting pedigree on his side - he is a black belt in karate. While the actual skills involved in the two disciplines do not translate in a significant way, Elliot thought his exploits in the dojo helped to explain his comfort heading into tomorrow night's fight.

"Being able to control the nerves is going to be a big thing,'' he said. "My experience in that area is definitely going to help me with those nerves and with my fight plan come fight night.

"Hopefully, come tomorrow night, I can express myself in a good way and put a good show on.''

Elliot wouldn't be drawn into his opponent's state of mind, shunning the trash talk that usually accompanies the sweet science, but he did enjoy the other aspects associated with the sport.

"It's a bit of a frenzy, isn't it? There's a lot of interest around the fight night,'' he said.

"[The entrance] was a bit epic but I suppose it's part and parcel of being a boxer for the night.''

That description of being a boxer for the night was apt among all the hoopla that came with the weigh-ins for the seven bouts, two of which are professional.

Despite Sheridan's best efforts - the announcer was rather optimistic in his assertion tomorrow night's event would be almost as exciting as Juan Manuel Marquez's knockout of Manny Pacquiao last weekend, a contender for fight of the year - there was no escaping this is more exhibition than real sport.

The league and rugby players (and rower Eric Murray) were carefully positioned in front of the cameras for their 'stare-down' photos, and it would hardly be a surprise if helpful minders were to appear in the ring on fight night to do the same.

That's taking nothing away from the competitors, or the worthiness of the cause, but boxing fans are more likely to shield their eyes than shell out for the pay-per-view.

Who: Nonito Donaire vs. Jorge Arce, in defense of Donaire's junior featherweight title.

Where, when: Toyota Center, Houston, on Saturday (HBO, 6:45 p.m.).

Notes: Donaire (30-1, 19 KOs), of San Leandro, is looking to win his fourth world title bout of the year. "I'm excited and blessed with having four fights this year," Donaire said to ESPN.com. "If I can, I will do it again next year. I am also sharpening my skills and working on my craft by fighting so often. My skills are getting to a new level." Donaire said he's wanted to face Arce, 32, of Mexico (61-6-2, 46 KOs) "for the longest time."

The ‘Filipino Flash’ pulled no punches, sending the Mexican to the canvas in the second round before finishing him off with a powerful left at 2 minutes 59 seconds of the third at the Toyota centre.

"I went out there and pretty much timed him," Donaire said. "We knew that he was going to open up. He was a tough guy. He actually got me in the body. I caught him with a good straight right hand and that counter hook came in."

Donaire, who watched Manny Pacquiao get knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round – also at 2:59 – said it was on his mind during the fight.

"There were a lot of fans that said, you got to get him, this is for the Philippines," said Donaire, who is targeting either Mexican Abner Mares or Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba for his next bout.

"But I love Mexico as well. Mexican fighters are tough and I have the best respect for all of them. I'm hoping (the Filipinos) can be proud of what I've done tonight."

The result was enough for Arce to retire. "My career's over,” he said. “I'm leaving after the best man. I have my family to take care of and my children and I promised them that if I lost, I would leave."

WBA super-bantamweight champion Rigondeaux was scheduled to face Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym on the undercard but the bout was scratched after Poonsawat failed a blood test during the week.

In Los Angeles, Leo Santa Cruz won a unanimous-decision contest over Alberto Guevara to defend his IBF bantamweight title.

Santa Cruz threw a remarkable 989 punches over the 12 rounds despite apparently breathing through his mouth for much of the fight because of a nose injury, and switching to southpaw to give a right-hand injury some relief.

"I've been fighting a lot lately, and I don't think I've been giving myself enough time to rest in between," said Santa Cruz.

"I'm sorry I didn't give that great of a show today. I felt a little different. Usually I throw more body shots, but I couldn't because he was running too much."

The physical issues did seem to hinder the Mexican early on as he found himself back on his heels while Guevara dictated the pace and spacing with swift combinations in between.

But Santa Cruz slowly found his rhythm, and by the second half was dominating, his shots flying inexorably towards Guevera’s head and body and exploding on impact every time.

The judges scored it at 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.

WBO super flyweight champion Omar Narvaez dominated David Quijano in Argentina with a sharp display that gave his opponent no chance despite being 11 years his junior.

The 37-year-old won emphatically with scores of 120-106, 119-109 and 120-108, punctuated by left and right cross shots that found Quijano’s jaw.