The Square Ring

Pacquiao-Cotto.Yes!

It is now official that Manny Pacquiao will fight Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas on November 14. They will fight for no title but a bundle of cash at the weight of 145. The weight would seem to be Pacquiao’s only problem. The PacMan won his first title at 111 Lbs. and change against Chatchai Sasakul in 1998. Since then he has annexed titles at 121,130 and 140. At some point, the weight gain must take a toll through endurance and effective power. Cotto is a natural at 146. The beating he took at the “plaster paws” of Antonio Margarita last July probably offsets the weight advantage for Cotto. Cotto has not been the same since. The real winner here is Top Rank’s Bob Arum. He is the promoter for both boxers. A Vega s jackpot for Buffalo Bob.

Arturo Gatti Gone

Former world champion boxer Arturo Gatti (40-9) was found dead in his hotel room in the Brazilian resort of Porto de Galinhas. He had arrived in the beachside town with his wife Amanda Rodriguez, a native of Brazil, and his one-year-old son on a “second honeymoon” on a Friday. By Saturday, he was dead. His wife was charge in his death after she could not explain how she spent “nearly 10 hours in the same room without noticing that Gatti was dead.” Police surmise that Gatti was strangled with a women’s purse, which was found at the scene with bloodstains. Gatti becomes the second star athletic within 7 days to die at the hands of a “loved one.” A girlfriend killed former NFL star QB Steve McNair as he slept on her condominium couch in Nashville. In life, Gatti was known as a tougher than nails fighter that gave and asked no quarter. His three-fight trilogy with Mickey Ward became the standard by which all great boxing matches are judged. The term “Pier 9 Brawl’s” was invented for their encounters. Gatti would retire after back-to-back loses to Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez both by TKO. In truth, he was never the same after a 6 round whipping at the fists of Floyd Mayweather Jr. in June of ’05. The sad end to a great fighter.

The Dreaded Deadline

Jeeves was technically correct that there was little boxing action on tap from July 15 to August 1. As the dreaded deadline for TSR came and passed there was a plethora of match’s for various worlds boxing titles. Most will mean almost nothing in the grand scheme of things but must be covered. Unique of those was the WBA middleweight title match between Felix Sturm (33-2-1) and Khoren Gevor (30-4). Unique not in the fact that Strum got a UD (117-111 and 115-113 twice) but for the location. The fight was held next to the start-finish line at the Nürburg Ring where the following day Aussie Mark Webber would win the German Formula 1 Grand Prix race. Webber would be the first Aussie to win a Formula 1 Race in 29 years. The last being Alan Jones who won the Caesars Palace Grand Prix (Las Vegas) in 1981. This win came in Webbers 130th Formula 1 start. How about that?

The same evening on the other side of the globe in Newark, New Jersey, Tomasz Adamek (37-1) would stop Bobby Gunn (21-4-1) in 5 to retain his IBF cruiserweight title. The bout was halted on the advice of the ringside physician much to the consternation of the Gunn camp. Normally this bout would have little world wide interest but in attendance was IBF Middleweight champ King Arthur Abraham (30-0) who during the evening returns his IBF middleweight belt to IBF President Marian Muhammad. “It is about time for a new challenge. It was a lot of fun to fight at middleweight but since neither Felix Sturm nor Kelly Pavlik wanted to get in the ring with me, I had to move on.”

Middle Tourney A Go

King Arthur’s move to “super” middleweight was “jump started” and given a good push by the super middleweight tournament announced by cable giant Showtime. Six super middleweights, 168 Lbs., will fight a round-robin format with the winners moving on until a ultimate champion is crowned. Included in the mix are WBC Champ Carl Froch (25-0), WBA Champ Mikkel Kessler (41-1), the aforementioned Abraham (30-0), former champion Jermaine Taylor (28-3-1) along with youngsters Andre Ward (19-0) and Andre Dirrell (18-0). Called the Super Six World Championships the champion should be crowned within 2 years. Each bout will be 12 rounds with the winner getting 2 points, a KO worth an addition point and a draw one point. The four boxers with the most points will move on to the semis on a seeded basis.

First round matches on October 17th are Carl Froch-Andre Dirrell with Arthur Abraham facing Jermaine Taylor the latter probably in Berlin. The final first round matchup will be held November 21 between Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward. Good stuff Maynard.

Darchinyan Derailed

Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1) plans for a third world title at three different weights were put on hold when IBF Bantamweight champion Joesph Agbeko (27-1) scored a 12 UD against him in Sunrise Florida. The fight was not nearly as close as the 116-111, 114-113 twice the judges scorecards indicated. Darchinyan had no answer for Agbeko’s punches or head butts. “The Bull” did try a couple of low blows and a flurry of elbows against the “Billy Goat” but with no effect. Agbeko’s head butts, unintentional but of course, opened cuts on both Darchinyan’s eyes with a bruise under one for good measure. This also marked the reemergence of Don King on TV. He reverted to form acting like the “north end of a horse heading south that he is”. After the fight he said, “That referee is crooked. Worse, I have ever seen. He’s a disgrace.” Wrong bucko. You are the disgrace but that is hardly news.

Seven Seconds from the Title

Most old timers remember the name of Ernie Shavers. During his heavyweight career, 1969-1995, he would go 74-14 with 68 “big wins by” KO. He was known as the hardest hitter in the heavyweight division. England’s Sky Sports TV commentator John Gwynne tells of Shavers, now a resident of England, giving a speech at a sports night gala. “There I was. September 28, 1979 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas fighting Larry Holmes for the heavyweight championship of the world. In the 7^th round I knocked him down flat on his back. When referee Davy Pearle got to the count of 3, I said to myself ‘Ernie Shaves you are 7 seconds from being the heavyweight champion of the world. When the count got to 5 I said to myself ‘Ernie Shavers you are 5 seconds from being the heavyweight championship of the world. At the count of 7 Holmes open one eye and looked up at me. I said to myself, ‘Ernie Shavers you are in for a long night.’ Holmes would KO Shavers in 11.

Best Bantamweight Ever

As voting continues for the best boxers in 8 weight divisions the list of ten top bantamweights has been released. Fan’s can vote on line by going to www.GreatestEver.com. The winners will be announced October 4th at the Paris Las Vegas. One of those nominated is current WBC Champ Hozumi Hasegawa (27-2) whose latest defense came in the form of a one round RSB against Nestor Rocha. The fight in Japan was part of a ‘double dipper” which included Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez (24-0) retaining his WBA minimum (105-pound) belt against a Katsunari Takayama (23-4) via the UD 118-110 all around.

Bantams? The Square Ring would vote for Wilfredo Gomez (44-3-1) as he defeated Carlos Zarate, Alberto Davila, Lupe Pintor, Juan Laporte and Rocky Lockridge. Next in order of preference are Ruben Olivares (88-13-3, 78 KO’s), Manuel Ortiz (96-28-3) and Edner Jofre (72-2-4). Difference of opinion? No problemo as that is why Baskin & Robbins has mo re than one flavor.

He Would Be King

Sky TV promoted their PPV of the Amir Khan- Andriy Kotelnk fight from Manchester with Khan (22-1) designated, as “He would be King.” After winning a UD (120-108,118-111 twice) Khan’s coronation might be put on hold. “Rosco put the crown back in the safe.” While Khan again showed hand speed, aggressiveness and will power is still lacked punching power. Khan really needs to step it up. Khan’s case was not helped when Breidis Prescott, who KO’d Khan in less than one, lost 95-94,96-93 with one judge giving him the edge 97- 92 which is rather hard to believe. A professional official that viewed that fight wrote. “For what it’s worth, it was very close in most of the rounds. Only a couple of rounds were not very difficult to score. I ha d it 95-94,

Jeeves Time

“Your Lordship I have heard you decry the demise of news reporting. Although you are no sterling example of the art you do have a point. I read the follow on the untimely death of boxer Arturo Gatti. “an autopsy indicates that Gatti might have committed suicide, been accidentally killed or murdered.” Thank God for modern scientific technique. “Jeeves regular reader Sid Silk has come up with a simple way to measure your body fat which I know you worry over constantly. “If you have a body and you have fat, your ration is one to on. If you are so fat as to be regarded as having two bodies, then your ratio is two to one. So bring on the Popeye’s chicken, a few pints of lager and a cigar for desert because

"Cheewit dee Khrup".