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Super middleweight prospect Darren Sutherland (2-0, 2KOs) has looked impressive in the ring. He stopped Siarhei Navarka in three rounds in Lancashire, dazzling the crowd with his boxing skills. He didn't only impress the crowd, he also impressed some of the pro observers in the crowd.
When UK lightweight Amir Khan was offered the fight with former three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera, he went to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for advice. Pacquiao and Khan are both trained by Freddie Roach and have trained together at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California. Pacquiao told Khan to accept the fight with Barrera, which takes place on March 14 in Manchester. Pacquiao has two wins over Barrera.
At the Robin Park Centre in Lancashire, Jamie Moore (31-3, 22 KOs) stopped Michelle Piccirillo (50-5-1, 29 KOs) in the third round to become the first Salford boxer in 99-years to capture a European title.
Former three time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is planning to return to the ring in the month of July. At the moment, Margarito is unable to fight on American soil. His boxing license was revoked on February 10 after the California State Athletic Commission found him liable for a foreign substance that was discovered in his handwraps before the fight with Shane Mosley on Jan. 24.
Juan Carlos Gomez is confident of an upset when meets WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko on March 21 at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart, Germany. Gomez claims that he is the strongest fighter that Vitali has ever faced. He says Lennox Lewis was physically big but didn't have the same kind of power. The one thing Gomez promises, over and over, is a performance unlike the one that Sam Peter put forth against Klitschko last October.
Roman Martinez (21-0, 12KOs) wants to become the next superstar of Puerto Rico. He travel to Manchester on March 14 to challenge WBO super featherweight champion Nicky Cook (29-1, 16KOs) on the undercard to Khan-Barrera at the MEN Arena. Martinez fought his way to a mandatory shot and wants to join the ranks of other Puerto Rican champions like Ivan Calderon, Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Lopez. Cook is coming off last September's upset decision over Alex Arthur.
Ricky Hatton feels that UK lightweight star Amir Khan could be getting rushed into big fights because of the big bucks that will result from pay-per-view. Khan faces former three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera on March 14 at the MEN Arena in Manchester. It marks the third time that Khan will appear on UK-based pay-per-view television. The first time, last September, he was knocked out in 54 seconds by Colombian puncher Breidis Prescott.
Bernard Hopkins and Golden Boy Promotions are doing their best to lure Joe Calzaghe out of retirement. Calzaghe, 46-0, announced his retirement last month. Hopkins has been trying to land one final major fight before calling an end to his own career. Calzaghe won a close split decision over Hopkins last April, but was very against a rematch. He felt their styles make for a very ugly fight and their April bout was a clear example.
Less than two weeks after the fight appeared to be dead, a deal structure has been reached for IBF/WBO heavyweight chmapion Wladimir Klitschko to face David Haye on June 20 in Europes. The two sides were in a dispute over the site. Haye wanted the fight in New York's Madison Square Garden and Klitschko wanted the fight to take place in Europe, where both fighters have bigger names and can draw more money. In the end, both sides agreed to Europe.
Antonio Margarito is very upset with some of Miguel Cotto's comments over the last few weeks. On February 10, Margarito and his trainer Javiar Capetillo had their licenses revoked by the California State Athletic Commission over a foreign substance that was discovered in Margarito's handwraps before the Jan. 24 bout with Shane Mosley. Margarito had a rematch scheduled for Cotto for June, but the year-long ban put an end to that fight.