Cotto vs. Margarito lives up to hype…

All I can say is damn! I rank Saturday’s welterweight showdown between Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto as fight of the year easily and definately in my top 5 of best fights I’ve ever witnessed live. Tony Margarito is an absolute machine! Cotto landed clean, hard ass punches all night that didn’t phase Tony one bit. He just kept coming forward until the pressure finally got to Cotto.  To watch the full fight, use this link: http://www.justin.tv/sportinwood/174474/Miguel_Cotto_vs_Antonio_Margarito

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito Link…

Tonight’s fight is being dubbed matchup of the decade by many. Two of the busiest and toughest fighters in boxing today. The Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry helps a bit too. It would be a smart idea to check it out either tonight or next week when HBO replays it for free. I’ve also done plenty of searching for links and come up with a few leads. First check http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=15519&part=sports every hour or so as they update which online TV players (Sopcast, TVU, etc) are playing it and which channel to tune into. Also, I’ve been told that the following links will stream the fight live so check them out around fight time.

http://translate.justin.tv/sportinwood
http://mysports.ulmb.com/mysports%203.htm

Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones booked for September…

We all knew it was a matter of time before this fight was finalized. It was either Joe C taking on a past-his-prime Roy or a mega fight with middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Well Calzaghe’s promoter Frank Warren was leaning towards Pavlik for Calzaghe’s could be last fight before retirement. Calzaghe thought otherwise and fired his longtime promoter. The result is a September 20th Madison Square Garden fight for Jones and Calzaghe. Although the boxing community would have preferred a Pavlik-Calzaghe matchup, Jones still brings a lot to the table at 39 and will be no pushover for the undefeated Welshman especially considering his dominating performance over Tito Trinidad. Stay tuned for updates including training videos, press conferences, and so on.

Paul Williams gets revenge on Carlos Quintana in impressive fashion…

I’m a little late with this but I had to up the video of Paul Williams’ devastating 1st round knockout of Carlos Quintana on June 7th in Connecticut. I remember watching their first fight and telling myself something was horribly wrong with Williams. No way should a 6′2″ 147 lb’er with as much talent as the Punisher get dominated like he did. Well, apparently he worked out the kinks because it took him less than one round to get his redemption and beat the absolute shit out of Quintana. “South Carolina standup!” Haha.

Floyd Mayweather signs with UFC?…

I don’t know how legit some of these rumors are but I’ve read reports from more than one website stating that Floyd will be making an announcement sometime this week of his plans to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Last week he declared himself ‘retired’ from boxing, something he’s done in the past and not stayed true to. But he was about to make a big payday by fighting his second fight with De La Hoya in September. Passing up cash like that tells me he’s got something big lined up. Click the pic for the report and stay tuned for developments…

Roy Jones Jr. on Dana White…

Little clip of Roy calling Dana White out on his double standard regarding Floyd Mayweather in the UFC and Anderson Silva boxing. Not much has become of this story since Anderson first challenged Roy last month. Maybe Roy taunting Dana White will get something poppin.

Malignaggi’s hair almost costs him IBF belt…

Paulie Malignaggi showed everyone last night why a fighter shouldn’t be worried about how his hair looks coming into a big fight. Not only did it look absolutely ridiculous from the get-go, it almost cost Paulie his IBF title. His doo came unraveled in the 1st round leaving him partially blinded and unable to see the overhand right coming from N’dou. From there on out it was a mess. After every round, the focus of the corner was on taping and trimming his hair until eventually he got it all chopped off in between later rounds. Luckily he grinded out a split decision, setting up a fight with Ricky Hatton.

 

Kimbo vs. Mike Tyson

Okay I hate to overdo the whole Kimbo Slice thing but I thought this would be postworthy. Over the past week, rumors have been flying around regarding a possible matchup between him and who else but Mike Tyson. EliteXC sources have been quoted as saying they would definately be open to talks with Mike Tyson’s representatives. I don’t know how much merit these rumors hold, but I wouldn’t put it past Mike Tyson to cash in on the fight, especially after the E:60 segment describing his economic troubles. I think I’d want to see this to be a boxing match however, because it would be another Ray Mercer with MMA rules. Click the pic for one of the initial reports.

Floyd Mayweather ‘Cinco de Mayo’ costume on sale starting at $4,000,000…

Ebay user mayweather-promotions has listed the get up worn by Floyd Mayweather in his ring entrance to the Cinco De Mayo 2007 matchup against Oscar De La Hoya. Included in the auction are the gloves, trunks, shoes, robe, and sombrero all flaunted by Money in his unmemorable pre-fight against Oscar. The auction describes virtually no details on any of the garments besides that they are “100% leather.” I don’t know…is it just me or would you want to know a little more about a costume’s design that you are about to spend $4 million on? Damn, not to mention the horrible presentation. I think they can do better than throwin $4mill on a white sheet. Click on the first pic to check the status of the auction…

Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe…

2 days until the fight the whole world has been waiting for. Wales native with a super work rate Joe Calzaghe faces the slick 43 year old Philadelphian Bernard Hopkins in Vegas this Saturday on regular HBO (Championship Boxing). It marks the first time Joe will cross the pond and fight on U.S. soil. Calzaghe wants to improve his record to an impressive 45-0 and prove the haters wrong who disregard European boxers. Hopkins, on the other hand, attempts to solidify his legend status by beating one of the best pound for pound fighters of the era. Check the links below for the countdown special that aired last weekend on HBO.

Countdown Part I

Countdown Part II

Countdown Part III

Miguel Cotto vs. Alfonso Gomez & Antonio Margarito vs. Kermit Cintron…

Nice little doubleheader of welterweight action tonight on HBO. First up is the much anticipated rematch between Antonio Margarito (35-5) and Kermit Cintron (29-1), two hard hitting latinos. Cintron’s corner threw in the towel during the first fight, leaving Cintron in tears. MMA fans may remember Cintron as being one of the boxers who challenged Dana White to a fight with one of his top fighters. It obviously never happened. In the main event, Alfonso Gomez takes on feared Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in a fight I honestly don’t see going the distance. Gomez is known for his appearence on NBC’s contender, his most notable victory a KO over Arturo Gatti that ended Gatti’s career. With a win, Cotto will most likely face the winner of Margarito-Cintron, hopefully setting him up for Mayweather in early 2009.

Free tickets to Mosley-Judah in May…

I just found out about an ongoing sweepstakes for a chance to win free tickets and a hotel room in Las Vegas for the May 31st “High Stakes” bout between Zab and Sugar Shane. As far as I know the undercard to this fight is pretty solid too. Wouldn’t be a bad little weekend trip to Sin City. Click on the image to be directed to the page where you can enter your name. I’m crossing my fingers!

Anderson Silva wants to box?…

In one of Anderson Silva’s recent post-fight interviews, he stated he would like to challenge the “185 champ” in boxing to show the world that the MMA stand up game is as technical as the sweet science. Silva should educate himself a little better prior to making such challenges being that there is no 185 division in boxing. He could choose between the 175 Light Heavy division or the 190 Crusiwerweight division. David Haye (above) and Enzo Maccarinelli fight tonight in a 190 unification bout on Showtime 9 ET…two guys Anderson would potentially face. Either way, I see it ending horribly for Anderson. He has 2 professional boxing bouts (1-1) under his name. Gotta do better than that if he wants to see the top dogs. This would be Michael Jordan leaving basketball for baseball all over again.

Shane Mosley vs. Miguel Cotto

The highly respected veteran ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley and WBA Welterweight champ Miguel Cotto square off tonight at MSG in New York. Mosley is coming off a 9 month hiatus from the ring following a TKO defeat of Vargas and decision win over Collazo. Cotto is also coming off an impressive stoppage of Zab Judah in June. Miguel has earned my respect in his last couple fights even though his defense is still somewhat flawed. He’ll have to be careful with Mosley who doesn’t take rounds off the way Judah does. My money is on Sugar Shane.

Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler…

Undefeated super middleweights Joe Calzaghe (43-0) and Mikkel Kessler (39-0) square off next Saturday, November 3rd from Denmark. It’s a free HBO fight and could easily be a contender for fight of the year with their fan friendly styles. Click the pic for a little bit of action from both.