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WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KOs) doesn't plan to go away without a serious fight when he defends his title against undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez on January 23 in New York. The fight will be televised by HBO with Yuriorkis Gamboa defending the WBA's regular featherweight title against Rogers Mtagwa.
A possble clash between super bantamweights Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. (17-0-1, 14KOs) and Marvin Sonsona (14-0-1, 12KOs) is in jeopardy. There is a contract on the table for Vazquez to face Sonsona on February 20 in Manila, Philippines.
According to promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, former champion Miguel Cotto may return in his favorite position - headlining a June event on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. Arum plans to meet with Cotto and his team in the near future to discuss the plans for 2010. First, Cotto needs to recover from the beating he took against Manny Pacquiao on November 14.
The last time John Ruiz saw action in London, he was training with Lennox Lewis in 1994. Ruiz was heklping Lewis prepare for his first bout with Oliver McCall. Things did not go as planned and Lewis was upset by McCall in two rounds. Now Ruiz is the mandatory challenger to WBA champion David Haye. Their fight is expected in London during the first quarter in 2010.
Leonard Ellerbe, CEO for Mayweather Promotions, says a possible May clash with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will be an easy fight for Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both sides are expected to begin negotiations this week. Ellerbe believes that Pacquiao will get outboxed in the same manner as the two fights with Juan Manuel Marquez and the first meeting with Erik Morales. Ellerbe denied any and all reports of Mayweather taking any type of tuneup fight. He says Mayweather will march straight to a fight with Pacquiao or face the winner of the January 30 bout between Andre Berto and Shane Mosley.
Former four division champion Roy Jones Jr. is outraged. It appears that several of his sparring partners were denied entry into Australia because they failed to provide full disclosure of their criminal records. Jones faces IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green on December 2 at Acer Arena. Green's manager Justin Manolikos received a call from Jones' camp but he told them that it wasn't his problem. It does pose a problem for the show as some of those fighters were due to see action on the Jones-Green undercard.
Trainer Freddie Roach says WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan can easily move up to welterweight and beyond, and win titles in multiple divisions like Manny Pacquiao. Roach trains both fighters and has them spar often during training camps. Khan defends his title against undefeated Dimitry Salita in Newcastle on December 5.
Talks for a junior flyweight unification bout between WBO champion Ivan Calderon and IBF champion Brian Viloria is coming along. Viloria has a defense scheduled for January 23 against Carlos Tamara in Manila. Calderon is still recovering from the serious cut that he suffered against Rodel Mayol in September.
WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has to defend his title against mandatory challenger John Ruiz, but he still wants to fight the brothers who rule the division, WBO/IBF/IBO champion Wladimir Klitschko and the WBC chmapion Vitali Klitschko. Haye broke down the strenghts and weaknesses of both brothers.
WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto is not impressed with Shane Mosley's huge win over Antonio Margarito from this past January. Berto feels the win is misleading because Margarito's mind was somewhere else. About 30 minutes before the contest, two inserts with a plaster-like substance were discovered in Margarito's handwraps by an official with the California State Athletic Commission. Berto faces Mosley, the WBA champion, in a unification bout on January 30 in Las Vegas.