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The training camp of Rafael Marquez is winding down. The former champion can't wait to fight after sitting on the sidelines for the last 14-months. He returns on May 23 against Jose Mendoza at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. It is now being reported that Marquez's next fight will be a ten-round featherweight contest.
At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (19-0, 12KOs) picked up the biggest win his career with a dominating twelve round unanimous decision over dangerous puncher Edison Miranda (32-4, 28KOs). Ward makes a big statement and puts the super middleweight division on notice. The scores were 116-112, 119-109, 119-109 for Ward.
At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, undefeated junior lightweight prospect John Molina Jr. (17-0, 13 KOs) stopped Frankie Archuleta (25-7-1, 14 KOs) in two rounds. Archuleta was dropped in the second and elected to quit before the start of the third.
Rome, Italy - Giacobbe Fragomeni (26-1-1) retained his WBC cruiserweight title by battling to a draw with Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (41-2-1). Judge Richard James Davies scored the bout 116-112 for Fragomeni, Robin Dolpierre had it 114-113 for Wlodarczyk, and Esa Lehtosaari scored it a 114-114 draw.
According to Jorge Arce, he might be facing fellow-former champion Dmitri Kirilov on June 20 with a major world title at stake. With Vic Darchinyan moving up to bantamweight to challenge for the IBF title, three super flyweight titles are going to become vacant - the IBF, WBA and WBC. Both Arce and Kirilov are ranked in the top ten of the IBF. Based on the avilability of the other fighters in the rankings, I could only see that title as being the possibly one at stake.
Junior middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is still chasing after a year-end showdown with Manny Pacquiao. He returns on July 25 in Mexico, headlining a Top Rank pay-per-view with Jason LeHoullier mentioned as a possible opponent. Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Chavez, has mentioned a possible fight between the two. The chance of such a fight taking place is not very good. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach is against a fight with Chavez. He says the size difference is too much.
Ricky Hatton has a legal battle on his hands. According to The Mirror, former trainer Billy Graham has filed a lawsuit against the Manchester star and is looking to recoup more than £1million pounds in a British High Court. Graham claims that Hattons owes him money from the 2007 welterweight bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and last year's fight with Juan Lazcano.
Former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey is expecting the fight of his life when he steps in the ring with WBO champion Miguel Cotto on June 13 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Clottey wants to be regarded as one of the best fighters in the world and in order to get there - he must get past Cotto.
David Haye is planning to go for the knockout in the very first round when he steps in the ring with WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on June 20 in Germany. The British fighter does not trust the judges and really believes that anything less than a knockout will result in a decision loss.
At the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sam Sexton (12-1, 5KOs) stopped Martin Rogan (12-1, 6KOs) in the eight round to win the Commonwealth heavyweight title. The win by Sexton ends the Cinderella story of Rogan, who became an underdog fan favorite with his big wins over Matt Skelton and Audley Harrison.