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Last February, John Duddy was on the verge of fighting WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. He appeared on the Klitschko-Ibragimov undercard at New York's Madison Square Garden against "safe" opponent Walid Smichet. Duddy won, but during the fight he was battered and suffered cuts that forced him to withdraw from a potential June 08 clash with Pavlik.
Two weeks ago, Oscar De La Hoya said a decision would soon come down on the status of his career. To date he is still pondering whether or not to return to the ring. After the nine rounds of punishment that De La Hoya's suffered at the hands of Manny Pacquiao last December, even his wife and close friend Richard Schaefer were calling for his retirement.
Oscar De La Hoya spoke out for the first time on the situation with Antonio Margarito's license being revoked by the California State Athletic Commission. Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo had their licenses revoked [on Feb. 10] over an illegal substance that was found in Margarito's hand wraps before the January 24 fight with Shane Mosley. Mosley is a partner in De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
During a recent interview, Joe Calzaghe gave his reason for walking away from the sport and announcing his retirement - before taking a fight with IBF light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, who many saw as the number-one contender to Calzaghe's throne. He felt Dawson was not yet a big enough star to make the fight. The money wasn't there for a fight with Dawson, and Calzaghe wasn't willing to wait around for the money to develop. He wanted to go out on top without a loss on his record.
All of the fighters have made weight and are ready to battle on Top Rank's split-feed pay-per-view on Saturday night. WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik took the scales at 159-pounds. Pavlik's first bout back in the middleweight division after losing to Bernard Hopkins last October at the catch-weight of 170. WBC mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio came in at 160-pounds on the nose. Their fight headlines the Ohio portion of the pay-per-view from the Chevrolet Centre in Pavlik's hometown of Youngstown.
It appears that a tentative agreement has been reached for a unification bout between WBO junior flyweight champion Ivan Calderon (32-0, 6KOs) of Puerto Rico and WBA interim-junior flyweight champ Cesar Canchila (27-1, 21KOs) of Colombia. Calderon was pulled from the March 28 card that is being put together by Puerto Rico Best Boxing. The fight, if the contracts get signed, would take place on May 23.
Miguel Cotto may hold more than a grudge against his promoter, Top Rank, over their support of Antonio Margarito, who had his boxing license revoked on February 10 by the California State Athletic Commission. Margarito and trainer Javier Capetillo were sent packing by the CSAC over a foreign substance that was found in Margarito's hand wraps prior to the fight with Shane Mosley on January 24.
According to overseas reports, super middleweight contender Edison Miranda (31-3, 27 KOs) will return to the ring on March 20 at the York Hall in Bethnal Green. He faces Joey Vegas (11-4-1, 4 KOs) in a ten-round contest.
UFC fighter Dan Hardy of Nottingham, who meets Rory Markham this weekend on the UFC 95 pay-per-view at the O2 Arena in England, has launched a vicious attack on the recently retired Joe Calzaghe of Wales.
WBC mandatory Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1, 38 KOs) plans to fight like a man with nothing to lose when he meets WBC/WBO champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) on Saturday before a hometown crowd at the sold-out Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. Rubio claims to have put together a secret plan that will unseat the champion. He says that after he beats Pavlik, he is willing to stage a rematch in Mexico and give the entire Pavlik team a tour of the country.