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WBA heavyweight champion David Haye sees the April 3 defense against John Ruiz as being an exciting fight. He thinks the style of Ruiz will provide him with the opening to make it an exciting fight. Haye wants to make a huge statement by becoming the first man since David Tua to knock Ruiz out.
WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch wants nothing more than to win the Super Six tournament. The second thing on his mind is to target two other titles at the weight being held by WBA champion Andre Ward and IBF champion Lucian Bute. Froch is training for his title defense against Mikkel Kessler on April 24. He expected to fight Kessler in a unification bout for the WBA title. That plan was crushed when Kessler lost the title to Ward in the opening stage of the Super Six.
Former champion Joshua Clottey has no idea what all the fuss is about. He had a few setbacks against fighters like Carlos Baldomir, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. He doesn't think about those defeats. He still views himself as an unbeaten fighter. Clottey tells Lem Satterfield of AOL FanHouse that he won't view a win over Pacquiao as an upset, but just another win in the bank. Clottey faces Pacquiao on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
At the Auditorio Plaza La Condesa in Mexico City, Mexico, Daniel Ponce De Leon (38-2, 33KOs) stopped Orlando Cruz (16-2-1, 7KOs) in the third round to pick up the vacant WBC Latino featherweight title. Ponce De Leon would like a shot at full champion Elio Rojas next.
At the Discoteca El Alebrije in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, lightweight contender Urbano Antillon (27-1, 20KOs) picked another win by stopping Luis Arceo (22-10-2, 15KOs) in the third round due to a cut. The cut was caused by a punch and received a TKO ruling when the fight was stopped. It marked the second win for Antillon since being stopped last year by Miguel Acotsa.
Humberto Soto is looking to match the boxing records set by fellow Mexicans Erik Morales and Julio Cesar Chavez. Soto wants to win his third WBC title in his third weight division. Morales and Chavez are the only two Mexican fighters to pick up three major WBC belts in three weight divisions.
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is sticking to his guns. He doesn't think former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito should regain his boxing license. Margarito will go before the California State Athletic Commission next week. On January 24, an illegal substance was discovered in Margarito's handwraps before his scheduled fight with Shane Mosley. Margarito's license was later revoked for one year by the CSAC. He is not trying to get his license back.
The WBA cancelled a purse bid for a heavyweight eliminator between Kali Meehan and Ruslan Chagave after being told a deal had been reached. Meehan received a contract for the fight on Friday. No date has been mentioned but he toldThe Sun-Herald the fight will likely take place in Germany.
Brendon Smith, manager of WBO interim-junior welterweight champion Michael Katsidis, wanted to BoxingScene.com to know that he wants a possible fight with unbeaten British fighter Kevin Mitchell to take place in Australia. Katsidis has not fought in Australia in four years. The WBO gave both camps until mid-March to reach a deal but Smith wants the fight to head to a purse bid because he doesn't think a deal will be reached where Mitchell will end up in Australia.
Edner Cherry (26-6-2, 14KOs) is slowly moving down in weight and the power is still there. In his second fight in the last three months, Cherry, who weighed 132.5 on Thursday, dropped his "Cherry Bomb" on Hevinson Herrera (14-5-1, 4KOs) at the A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, Florida. Cherry went to work from the start and threw bombs from every angle. It took him less than two minutes to pound Herrera silly before the ref jumped in to stop the action.