Ringside

Tough Colombian Juan Urango won a unanimous decision last night against Herman Ngoudjo to become IBF Junior Welterweight champion.

Urango (21-1-1) had previously lost this version of the title to Ricky Hatton in 2007, but managed to regain the belt in comfortable fashion after knocking down Ngoudjo twice in the third round.

Somewhat confusing is how the 10th round managed to last for five minutes, however this did not affect the outcome as Urango fought for the first time since April 2008 when he was victorious over Carlos Vilches. Had a knock-out occurred during this extra time, the bout would surely have been declared void.

Urango is now undefeated in his last four since his unanimous decision loss to Ricky Hatton in January 2007 and simply had too much for the Canadian Ngoudjo.

Following the official confirmation of Ricky Hatton’s clash with Manny Pacquiao, the Manchester fighter has promised to reward his loyal faithful by becoming the number one Pound for Pound boxer in the world, and going some way to making up for his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2007. 

The Hitman still feels, somewhat unfairly, that he let down the travelling masses and is aiming to put this right on May 2^nd in Las Vegas. 

Hatton will get his second chance to become the top P4P king, following Mayweather Jr’s retirement and is determined not to let this opportunity slip. 

Hatton will go into the fight the underdog, but not to the same extent as his clash with the Pretty Boy. 

I’ll keep you posted about further fight details and the upcoming promotional tour.  

After what seems like an age of negotiations and squabbling between the rival camps, the deal has been signed for 2009’s first Las Vegas mega-fight, between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton on May 2nd.

The bout will be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, scene of Hatton’s last two Vegas bouts, a defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr and a victory over New Yorker Paulie Malignaggi in November 2008.

Pacquiao is coming off an astonishing victory over Oscar De La Hoya at Welterweight and will drop down to 140lbs to face the IBO Light Welterweight Champion Hatton.

The purse split, the reason for the protracted negotiations is rumoured to be the 50/50 that was originally offered with both fighters likely to receive in excess of $20 million.

A promotional tour will begin soon and will cover the US and the UK, although a trip to Pacquiao’s native Philippines has not been mentioned.

I’ll keep you posted!

The Californian State Athletic Commission has suspended the license of Antonio Margarito pending a hearing on February 10^th. 

This suspension relates to the hand-wrapping scandal which arose prior to the Shane Mosley fight this past Saturday, after Mosley’s coach Nazim Richardson discovered a “plaster like” substance in Margarito’s hand wrapping. 

Team Margarito have tried to explain this as merely “pre-treated gauze” but this has not stopped the Commission temporarily suspending Tony’s license. 

Exactly what is meant by “pre-treated gauze” is unclear and will surely be one of the questions the Commission ask of Margarito and his team in the February 10^th hearing. 

I’ll keep you posted!

As if the manner of Antonio Margarito’s defeat to Sugar Shane Mosley wasn’t bad enough, a first career stoppage in a 9^th round knockout, he is now embroiled in a hand wrapping scandal after Mosley’s coach, Nazim Richardson ordered his hands to be re-wrapped three times prior to the bout on Saturday night.

Richardson has stated he saw something fall out of the wrapping when one of his hands was unwrapped, and it appeared to be plaster. Margarito’s other hand was then unwrapped and the same substance was found and removed.

Team Margarito claim that this is merely gauze which hardened as Tony’s hands were wet when this was applied, but the Californian State Athletic Commission is looking into the allegations.

This is a disappointing revelation, which will hopefully amount to nothing as it would be a shame if this was to in some way tarnish Margarito’s impressive victory over Cotto in 2008 and his reputation generally.

I will reserve judgment on this unsavoury incident until all the facts become clear and the Californian Athletic Commission have completed their review, but Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward has already gone on record by saying “he’s [Margarito] tainted everything he has done,” and “now the biggest victory of his career is being questioned” (the win over Cotto).

While this could ultimately prove true, and would impact severely on the Mexican’s legacy, I feel Steward’s comments are a little harsh given we do not yet know all the facts and we should avoid jumping the gun in throwing out, what are very serious allegations.

Should any wrongdoing be confirmed, this may well impact not just Margarito, but his promoters Top Rank, who also promote Cotto, and the Californian Athletic Commission who did not notice anything untoward with the Mexican’s hands, as it was only Nazim Richardson’s persistence that identified the problem with the wrapping.

I’ll keep you posted!

Following his destruction at the hands of the rejuvenated Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito is rumoured to be planning a rematch with Miguel Cotto in June.

This will depend on Cotto overcoming tough British opponent Michael Jennings at Madison Square Garden in February, something which is not guaranteed as Jennings will be looking to capitalize on any weaknesses or damage lingering from the punishment Cotto received from Margarito in their last bout.

It will be interesting to see how Cotto comes back from his first professional defeat, and in particular the manner of such a defeat in a bout in which he boxed so well for the first 6 rounds, and threw everything he had at Margarito, only for the Mexican to smile in the face of the punches and walk down Cotto on the way to a 11th round knockout.

Rumours had circulated that Cotto would seek a rematch with Shane Mosley, with Sugar appearing keen to avenge his unanimous decision defeat in 2007, but Bob Arum appears to want a repeat of one of the fights of 2008 with Margarito.

Should Cotto beat Margarito in this proposed rematch, look for a rubber between the two with the overall winner facing Mosley. Sugar on the other hand could well seek out the winner of Pacquiao v Hatton or Paul Williams, yet the Punisher, for me, will remain the most avoided man in boxing particularly at Welterweight in 2009.

I’ll keep you posted!

A press conference has been called by Team Hatton for this Thursday to officially announcement the super fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton.

The date and venue will also be officially confirmed, but these have been known for some time as May 2nd and the MGM Grand Garden Arena respectively.

After protracted and at some times heated negotiations the deal has been struck with Hatton due to sign in the next day or so, although details of the split have not yet been confirmed.

As promised I will try to post details of flights and hotel deals.

Over the past couple of years bar far the best for British fans has been www.expedia.co.uk.

The deal I’ve chosen is 4 nights  (May 1st to May 5th) at Caesars Palace, Continental flights from Manchester, via Newark for £490.

For those fans who have not been to Las Vegas before, the top drawer hotels, and the most expensive tend to be the Bellagio, the Wynn and the Mandalay Bay.

I’d also recommend the suites at boutique hotels Signature at MGM Grand and TheHotel at Mandalay Bay.

The MGM Grand, Luxor and Caesars Palace being good value alternatives for fans feeling the credit crunch.

I’ve been fortunate enough to stay at the MGM Grand twice, for Mayweather and Malignaggi and the casinos are vast and impressive, with the rooms understated, but large enough for two Queen beds. I’m only staying at Caesars Palace for a change of scenery, and to get a few nights out at the other end of the strip.

Flights tend to change quite quickly, as they fill up, but for Manchester based fans the Continental flights via Newark seem to be the best, and most direct route, duration being about 15 hours. The plane is a Boeing 757, with a 3 and 3 seat set up, so not the largest with only one aisle.

With the flights I’ve chosen you can get the following deals via Expedia as of today:

Flamingo, old school Vegas, for £476

Caesars Palace, like me, for £489

MGM Grand, venue for the fight, for £533

Wynn, 5 star, £634

Luxor, Egyptian value, £521

Mandalay Bay, scene of countless top notch fights, £588

Bellagio, if you like Oceans Eleven, £734

If you want to do the fight and money is no object, the Bellagio is hard to beat, but the Mandalay Bay is impressive with a suite at TheHotel at Mandalay Bay, being the best choice for me.

Rumours of fight tickets going on sale this Friday may be a little off the mark, but I will try to let you know when they are to go on sale. Prices are from $150 to $1000, so considerably cheaper than the previous fights.

I’ll keep you posted!

Ricky Hatton’s lawyer Gareth Williams has confirmed that the eagerly anticipated fight with Manny Pacquiao will go ahead later this year after an agreement was reached this past weekend.

A press conference has been called for later in the week and I will provide further details as soon as they become available.

The fight will most likely take place in Las Vegas, on May 2nd with the MGM Grand as the venue.

I’ll keep you posted!

Freddie Roach trained MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski was defeated in spectacular fashion with a knockout defeat Saturday night in California at Affliction, M1: Global’s Day of Reckoning.

Roach has previously said he believes Arlovski has the stand up skills to challenge at boxing’s top level and could take on current WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolay Valuev.

Arlovski looked in great physical shape against MMA legend Emilianenko but was stunned by a looping right hand and was knocked clean out 3 minutes into the first round.

For all his boxing training, Arlovski was unable to guard against a high right hand after going in for a flying knee against the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion and was subsequently knocked out by a single shot to the chin.

Arlovski’s boxing future may now be on hold given he was not defeated by a submission or a take-down but a good old fashioned big right hand.

Fedor on the other hand cemented his place as the top MMA Heavyweight in the world.

Given this defeat for Arlovski, we may not see a true cross over athlete between MMA and boxing for some time.

I’ll keep you posted.

Following his demolition of Antonio Margarito, Sugar Shane Mosley is reportedly lining up a shot at retired Pound for Pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.

We have heard such rumours before following the crowning of a new champion, indeed Margarito himself was linked with Mayweather following his brutal victory over Miguel Cotto in 2008. However, such was the manner of Mosley’s defeat of the Mexican, that the potential popularity and value of a bout may prove too much for even Mayweather to ignore.

Mayweather’s advisor Leonard Ellerbe has continued to state that his man is retired, however Richard Schaefer from Golden Boy Promotions has indicated he will open discussions with Mayweather’s team this coming week to try and tempt the Pretty Boy out of retirement.

Mosley’s performance against Margarito is one of, if not the best performance by a Welterweight since Floyd Jr retired after defeating Oscar De La Hoya. Manny Pacquiao’s victory over De La Hoya was astounding, but the Golden Boy’s physical condition and severe weight drain detract slightly from the win, however no such problems hampered Margarito, he was simply blown away by the speed and power of the 37 year old Mosley.

Also, Margarito was widely regarded as the top Welterweight around, who was fighting in his prime and very few, if any commentators gave Mosley any sort of a chance. Whereas De La Hoya was in the twilight of his boxing years, and fighting far below his natural weight.

At this stage a bout against Mayweather would be massive, but I’m not sure this will come off, with Mayweather more likely to wait for another PPV mega-fight against the winner of Manny Pacquiao v Ricky Hatton.

However, Mosley does deserve to be mentioned alongside names such as Mayweather and may cause the retired Pretty Boy problems should any bout come to fruition.

I’ll keep you posted!