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Bantamweight prospect Abner Mares (18-0, 11KOs) will see action on the undercard to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mares recently signed up with manager Frank Espinoza, who brought Israel Vazquez, Martin Castillo and Enrique Sanchez to world titles among others.
Heavyweight contender David Haye is still eating, sleeping and breathing the Klitschko brothers. Due to a back injury, he withdrew last Wednesday from his June 20th bout with IBF/WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko. He hopes to fight Wladimir or older brother Vitali Klitschko, the WBC champion, in the near future. He ordered manager Adam Booth to head out there to make the biggest fight possible.
WBC junior flyweight champion Edgar Sosa met face to face with his June 20th opponent, Carlos Melo. The fight takes place at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Melo is a very big underdog but Sosa promises to stay focused and not make any mistakes. He wants to put on a very big performance in the fight, hoping that it pushes him into a big unification bout.
According to a spokesperson for the La Bella Wedding Chapel, former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson married his girlfriend Lakiha Spicer in a ceremony in Las Vegas. The spokesperson said it was a private ceremony with only Spicer and Tyson present. Tyson was said to have dressed "nicely" with a tie.
According to a recent report by Dan Rafael, veteran trainer Freddie Roach, who handles pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, will now become the trainer of highly regarded Cuban prospects Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yudel Johnson.
The officials have been revealed for Saturday's bout between WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey. Cotto defends at New York's Madison Square Garden. Veteran referee Arthur Mercante Jr. will be the third man in the ring. The judges are Don Trella and John McKaie of New York and Tom Miller of Ohio. Richard De Cuir will be the supervisor on behalf of the WBO.
WBA junior welterweight champ Andreas Kotelnik has very little respect for his June 27 challenger, Amir Khan. He is tired of people talking to him like Khan is the next big thing. He doesn't think much of Khan's talents and promises to punish him in the ring. If he lands his big punches, he feels that he can stop Khan quicker the Breidis Prescott did last September, which was 54-seconds of the first round.
Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. views the July 18 showdown between his son Floyd Mayweather Jr, and WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, as a one-sided mismatch. He compares the fight to his son's one-sided beatdown of Arturo Gatti from 2005. Mayweather pounded Gatti for six rounds before the fight was stopped. He says the fight is so one-sided that he can't believe HBO placed it on pay-per-view. Marquez moves up be nearly two weight divisions to meet Mayweather at and agreed-upon weight of 144-pounds.
The career of WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik is quiet at the moment. If he lands the right fight, there could be a lot of noise. According to co-manager Cameron Dunkin, one possible fight that Top Rank is exploring is a unification bout with WBA champion Felix Sturm of Germany.
Adam Booth, manager of David Haye, agrees with Wladimir Klitschko's decision to go forward with his June 20th date with undefeated Ruslan Chagaev. Klitschko was set to defend his WBO/IBF titles against Haye on that date but Haye withdrew last Wednesday with a back injury. Haye was ready to fight Klitschko by July 25, but the champion, inactive for six months, was not willing to wait any longer and made a deal with Chagaev. Booth is not upset with Klitschko's decision. He says the same decision would have been made if Haye was in the same situation.