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According to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, a rematch between Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley is probably not the next fight for Cotto, tentative for June 13. Should Cotto get past Michael Jennings on Saturday, Arum wants to get him the biggest money fight possible. With Mosley almost sure to make a demand of at least 50% or more of the split - he is not at the top of the list of possible opponents for Cotto's next fight.
Clinton Woods' promoter, Dennis Hobson, had recently told reporters that he might be able to entice Joe Calzaghe to return to the sport for one more fight. Hobson feels there is a lot of money to made with a Calzaghe-Woods encounter on UK soil. Woods has been after Calzaghe for a while, but was never able to get him in the ring.
WBC featherweight champion Oscar Larios (63-6, 39KOs) is ready to make the next defense of his title against Takahiro Aoh (16-1, 8KOs) in a March 12 rematch at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Hall. Larios won somewhat controversial split-decision over Aoh last October at the Yoyogi First Gym in Tokyo. The WBC wanted the two men to lock up again to settle the issue on who won.
Former two division champ Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4, 36KOs) is ready for war when he steps in the ring with Juan Diaz (34-1, 17KOs) on February 28 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Marquez is said that he is oozing with motivation to capture his third world title in his third weight division. The fringe IBO lightweight title is on the line, but Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, has said that a possibility exists for Marquez-Diaz to have the vacant WBO lightweight title on the line.
The welterweight dreamfight, Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, could actually stand a chance of becoming a reality. Before Antonio Margarito lost his boxing license for a full year, Pacquiao was actually calling for a future fight with the much-larger former champion. Nobody knows how serious he was, but there was a lot trash talking with Pacquiao [and trainer Freddie Roach] predicting that he was capable of outboxing Margarito with few issues. Now that Margarito is gone, Miguel Cotto remains. Cotto mentioned a potential Pacquiao fight in several recent interviews and said he is more than willing to fight the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.
The word going around boxing insiders is that IBF light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (27-0, 17 KOs) injured his right hand in training camp and will not be able to move forward with his HBO televised rematch with Antonio Tarver (27-5, 19 KOs) on March 14th. The March date was going to be Dawson's debut on the network and the first fight for Tarver on the network since losing a 2006 decision to Bernard Hopkins.
A battle between heavyweight contenders Sam Peter (32-2, 23KOs) and Eddie Chambers (33-1, 18KOs) has been finalized to take place on March 27 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. ESPN will televise the fight. It is the first boxing event at Nokia to feature heavyweight contenders.
The proposed June 20th bout between WBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye is in serious trouble. Revealed last week, the two sides were at odds over the UK television rights, the venue and Klitschko's team had claimed that Haye and his manager, Adam Booth, were being greedy and asking for a lot of money and making all sorts of demands.
Miguel Cotto is counting down the days until his Saturday ring return at New York's Madison Square Garden. Over the last few years, New York has become Cotto's second home and he's built a large following among the Puerto Rican boxing fans in the area. This time the return is different. Cotto suffered the first loss of his career last July, an eleven round knockout to Antonio Margarito.
Last Saturday night in Florida, Ali Funeka put on a spirited performance against Nate Campbell, trying to win the IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight titles. He was close to pulling it off until Campbell staged a rally in final two rounds to win a majority decision. We take a look at some of his potential options in the future.