Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

Showtime has announced the contents of their second MMA card, which will take place on June 2, 2007, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Three bouts of the live card will be shown on Showtime during a one-hour telecast that begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

On Feb. 10, 2007, Showtime aired the first-ever MMA fight card carried live on premium television.

Then, a pay-per-view portion of the June 2 mega event will feature up to six bouts and will start following the free teaser.

Former WWE star Brock lesnar will be facing off with South Korean Hong Man Choi, all 7-2 of him, and the giant said he’s excited to be taking part.

“This is my first MMA event and I am very excited. I am happy to be part of this sport. I feel fortunate to havemy health and I am ready to go. I have a good feeling about this. “My opponent is obviously very, very large. But size doesn’t matter. It just gives me a huge target to hit.
“I think they are making a big mistake by fighting me. Choi has more experience, but when it comes time for me to put his butt on the mat, he will be like a fish out of water.

“I want to thank everyone involved. This is a heck of an opportunity and a chance to get back to my amateur wrestling roots. I’ve been training a year and feel very comfortable.

“This is going to be a great event and I can’t wait for when it’s time for lights, camera and action. I am looking to make a huge impact on the MMA today.’’

Ex-footballer Johnnie Morton will also be making his MMA debut.

“This is my first pro fight. No, I don’t know of many other NFL players doing this. But I got beat up all those years playing football so I decided to give this a try.

“I stay in shape year round. So in the off-seasons, I would train in kick-boxing gyms and learn new moves. I am going into this totally blind.

“The big thing is, this is a new challenge in a sport I have never done before. My whole life, I played team sports. This is a chance to do an individual one.

“This sport is nuts. But football was nuts, too. At least in football, you do get hit sometimes, too.

“I feel my strengths are heart, courage, strength and competitiveness. I feel extremely strong in my upper body and on my feet.

“I’ve watched MMA from the very start and always found it interesting. It was my favorite sport to watch. Now, I am going to be in the biggest MMA event in American history. Sure, I will be a little nervous. But if you are not nervous, you should not be here.

“I am proud to be involved in this big event. I am looking forward to making a mark.’’

Royce Gracie will also be fighting on the show.

The majority owners of Ultimate Fighting Championship are buying their chief rival, Pride Fighting Championships, in a move that serves notice–if that notice hadn’t already been served– that UFC is looking to corner the MMA market.

“This is really going to change the face of MMA,” said UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta to the AP, “literally creating a sport that could be as big around the world as soccer. I liken it somewhat to when the NFC and AFC came together to create the NFL.”

An unnamed source told The Associated Press that brothers Lorenzo and his brother Frank Fertitta will purchase the Japanese-based Pride for less than $70 million.

The deal was done on Tuesday, the AP says.

“We have been talking to Pride for probably about 11 months,” Lorenzo Fertitta said. “It’s been a long, drawn-out process but we finally were able to put the two brands together.”

The Fertittas will not retire the Pride name.

This deal is the largest move as UFC continues to snap up rivals; they purchased World Extreme Cagefighting and World Fighting Alliance last year.

On the downside, because one company controls so much of the MMA product, fighters’ bargaining power in negotiating fees could be lessened.

But with the explosive growth of the sport, it’s probably only a matter of time before some deep-pocketed businesspersons will look to get a piece of the MMA pie, and create a high-profile competitor to UFC.

Freddie Roach was supposed to be concentrating solely on Oscar De La Hoya, who’s getting ready for his Super Bowl of Boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather on May 5. But the trainer, it appears, may be traveling to San Antonio, Texas, to be in the corner of his top client, Manny Pacquiao, when Pac Man clashes with undefeated Mexican Jorge Solis on April 14 at the Alamodome.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer said that Roach said he’d like to be in Manny’s corner, and will run it by De La Hoya.

Roach had said that he’d have to go on a hiatus with all his clients, and that included Contender alum Peter Manfredo, who’ll instead have Sugar Ray Leonard in his corner when he meets undefeated Joe Calzaghe on April 7 in Wales.

Manny Pacquiao has said he’ll fight World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez as his mandatory challenger if he gets past unbeaten (but craftily handled) Jorge Solis on April 14.

According to the Phillpine Daily Inquirer, Rex Wakee Salud, Pacquiao’s adviser, conveyed Pac Man’s interest to the sanctioning body.

Pacquaio, age 28, battled Marquez in 2004, and the result was a draw. The 33-year-old Marquez, the former IBF and WBA featherweight champion, did well to finish the fight, as he was knocked to the floor three times in the first round.

Sergio Mora’s loss is Cory Spinks’ gain.

After the Contender alum Mora blew off a chance of a lifetime, rather than fight in Jermain Taylor’s hometown, promoter Lou Dibella needed a fill-in to fight his middleweight stud.

The southpaw Spinks (36-3, 11 KOs) stepped up, and will meet the 28-year-old Taylor (26-0-1, 17 KOs) on May 19 on HBO at the FedEx Forum, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reports.

“Cory is ready to make the most of the opportunity,” Spinks’ manager/trainer Kevin Cunningham told Rafael of ESPN.com on Thursday night. “We appreciate [promoter] Lou DiBella and Jermain for giving us the opportunity to challenge for Jermain’s title. We’re not going to blow it. It’s on. We haven’t signed the contracts yet, but we have the contracts. We’ve agreed. At least one of the marquee fighters [Taylor] in boxing has the [guts] to fight Cory.”

Middleweight contenders-on-the-cusp Kelly Pavlik (30-0, 27 KOs) and Edison Miranda (28-1, 24 KOs) will face off in the primary support bout, Rafael also reported.

I admit I’m more pumped up for that one than I am for the Taylor/Spinks bout. The 29-year-old Spinks is a skilled technician, but a little smooth for my liking. I like some rough edges, and Miranda has those, for sure.

Also, the drama is sure to be sky-high, as both 28-1 Miranda and 30-0 Pavlik have been yearning to take a leap into main event status…

“Cory is extremely excited to have this fight,” Cunningham said. “The Spinks family has a history of making history.”

The fight matches the world’s No. 1 middleweight with the former undisputed welterweight champion, who is now recognized by many as the No. 1 junior middleweight. Spinks, coming off a lopsided decision win against mandatory challenger Rodney Jones on Feb. 3, will move from 154 pounds to 160 for the fight.

“Cory looks at this as a fight he has to win,” Cunningham said. “He has to win a fight like this to get respect from the networks and the experts. He feels it’s a fight he has to win. He’s looking at making history and becoming a three-division world champion. This is the opportunity for Cory to get respect and to be looked at as one of the best fighters of his time. If he has to go up in weight to fight a bigger, stronger, heavier guy, he has no problem doing it.”

Said DiBella: “In some ways, I would have preferred the Mora fight. I actually think Spinks is tougher for Jermain. Spinks is a more difficult fight with less reward. Cory is a difficult fighter. He’s an elusive guy. Jermain will have to track him down and impose himself on Cory.”

The match shapes up as a big regional rivalry, which is why DiBella wants to call the fight “The Border Battle.” Taylor, from Little Rock, Ark., and Spinks, from St. Louis, are both proven draws in their hometowns. Both cities are only a few hours by car from Memphis and fans of both fighters figure to flock to Memphis for the fight.

“People from both cities will come to Memphis for the fight. It’s a great regional fight,” DiBella said.

“It will be a huge fight in Memphis, a lot bigger than Taylor fighting Sergio Mora,” Cunningham said.

DiBella said that former welterweight champion Vernon Forrest (38-2, 28 KOs) will also be on the undercard, possibly in a junior middleweight elimination bout against European junior middleweight champ Michele Piccirillo (47-3, 30 KOs) of Italy.

Whether the fight will be part of HBO’s broadcast has not been determined, but even if it’s not, HBO likely would air highlights.

Piccirillo claimed a vacant welterweight world title on a highly controversial decision against Spinks in April 2002 in Italy and then lost the belt in his first defense against Spinks when they met in a rematch 11 months later, also in Italy.

O’Neil Bell is back in the US after his 12 round decision loss to Jean-Marc Mormeck in France on March 17th, and the man is still in fighting form.

“I had a lot of respect for Mormeck before that fight and I considered him a warrior,� said Bell. “But after he ran from me for the last four rounds because he knew he was ahead on the scorecards, I have nothing good to say about the man. He should be ashamed of himself and he should apologize to all boxing fans for spoiling what could have been the Fight of The Year.�

The 26-2-1 Bell lost his WBC and WBA titles via scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112. The Jamaican, age 32, won the first contest between the two men, in Jan 2006, via a tenth round knockout.

But in the rematch, the ill-advised open scoring system changed the flow of the fight; the announcement of the scoring after eight rounds had Mormeck, now 32-3, ahead. The Frenchman, age 34, protected his lead from then on.

“Regardless of the scoring, Mormeck’s tactics, and some funny business on the part of the timekeeper, who was ending rounds early, I know I won this fight,� said Bell. “The only thing I’m thankful for is that the fight was shown on television in the United States, so the fans could see the truth about what happened.�

In fact, the final round did end about 15 seconds early, it appeared, so this Bell rant can’t be dissmissed as sour grapes.

“I definitely want a rematch and I think Mormeck owes it to me and to the fans to settle the score,� said Bell. “I won’t stop chasing him until he does give me another fight – as the great Joe Louis said, ‘you can run, but you can’t hide.

On Saturday, June 23, 2007, Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo will get it on at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, and the bout will be seen on HBO’s World Championship Boxing.

“Hitman� Hatton (42-0, 30 KOs) from Manchester, England will take on Jose Luis“El Temible� Castillo (55-7-1, 47 KOs) Hermosillo, Mexico.

The battlers, both in need of an impressive victory to keep their careers on an upward track, will fight at 140 pounds.

Both men have had, shall we say, scale issues, so much of the lead-in to the bout will focus on poundage.

Promoter Art Pelullo said today, “Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo are not only the top two jr. welterweights in the world, they are two of the most exciting fighters in the ring today at any weight. This fight has to potential to be one of the best of the year and one that will be remembered by fight fans for years to come.�

Hatton is currently The Ring’s jr. welterweight world champion, as well as a former two-time world titlist at jr. welterweight, and a former world titlist at welterweight. Castillo is currently ranked No. 1 by The Ring and a former two-time WBC lightweight world titlist.

***material compiled with promotional release

John Duddy got the job done last Friday against Contender alum Anthony Bonsante, and the charismatic Irishman (19-0, 15 KOs) is being rewarded with an uptick in buzz.

The boxer joins host Brian Kenny tomorrow night (March 23) in the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights between 9-11 PM/ET.

“It’s fantastic,” Duddy said about his guest ESPN2 FNF in studio opportunity. “We’re going to have a great time. It proves that we’re (Clan Duddy) moving in the right direction. I’m really going to enjoy the experience.”

FNF travels to Foxwoods Casino and Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut to televise a scrap between
20-1-1 Delvin Rodriguez and 14-5-3 spoiler type Jessie Feliciano.