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At Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, WBO flyweight champion Omar Narvaez (30-0-2, 19 KOs) made a record sixteenth title defense by stopping Omar Soto (17-5-1, 11 KOs) in eleven rounds.
Former IBF super bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (29-1, 11KOs) still needs a lot of work. The Canadian star is trying to rebuild his career after being crushed in four rounds last November by Celestino Caballero during their unification bout. Prior to the loss, Molitor was being groomed as a major star and American promoters like Top Rank were expressing interest in promoting him in the United States.
Featherweight Mario Santiago makes his ring return on Saturday night after a year of sitting on the shelf. Santiago has been inactive since last June's draw with WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano. Santiago takes on Gilberto Sanchez Leon of Mexico on the undercard to Juan Manuel Lopez-Olivier Lontchi at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
One of the more highly regarded prospects in British boxing, middleweight James DeGale, is going to train and spar with five-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the end of July. DeGale, a 2008 Olympic gold winner, faces Ciaran Healey at Manchester's MEN Arena on July 18. DeGale and his trainer Jim McDonnell met Mayweather in London during last month's media tour for Mayweather-Marquez.
Former six division champion Oscar De La Hoya has no desire to return to the ring. He seems more than happy to sit back and call the shots as the president of Golden Boy Promotions. In his last ring outing, De La Hoya was battered for eight rounds before he made a decision to retire on his stool. A few months later he retired from the ring at the age of 36.
One of the best trainers in the sport, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain, said Manny Pacquiao will stop Miguel Cotto within six rounds. The Cotto-Pacquiao bout is being lined up for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with the catch-weight of 145-pounds being likely. Beristain trained Juan Manuel Marquez for both bouts with Pacquiao, and trained Oscar De La Hoya for last year's career-ending loss to Pacquiao.
During some recent talks with media members overseas, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said the United States, Mexico and Japan are leading the way in boxing, due to the heavy amount of shows, activity and title fights in each respective country.
Former WBA super flyweight champion Martin Castillo (33-3, 17KOs) is planning a comeback. The 34-year-old Mexican fighter retired not long after his four-round knockout loss at the hands of Fernando Montiel in February 2008.
At Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, New Jersey, junior welterweight contender Mike Arnaoutis (22-3-2, 10KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Doel Carrasquillo (12-12-1, 10KOs). Arnaoutis appeared tight in some rounds and Carrasquillo gave him some trouble with his unorthodox style. The scores were 98-92, 96-94 and 96-94.
WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez is headlining this weekend at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, defending his title against undefeated Olivier Lontchi in the main event of Top Rank's Latin Fury 9 pay-per-view. He doesn't want to look beyond his upcoming fight, but Juanma is starting to get the feeling that the two best fighters at his weight are avoiding him.