278 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Robert Morales byline.
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Trainer Freddie Roach has no stake in Erislandy Lara or Paul Williams, so it was interesting to hear his perspective on last Saturday's controversial fight, where Williams was awarded a twelve round majority decision win at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
by Robert Morales - It was about noon Wednesday in Los Angeles, and Victor Ortiz was some eight hours away from his second news conference in two days promoting his Sept. 17 welterweight title defense against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). Speaking by telephone, Ortiz was very direct when asked what he thinks about the way his career has gone since he was lambasted by reporters after he was stopped by Marcos Maidana in the sixth round in June 2009 at Staples Center. There were more than a few reporters who thought Ortiz quit, and they didn't let him forget with story after story regarding his alleged lack of courage. Of course, he showed he had plenty when he took Andre Berto's welterweight title in April in a grueling bout. "I really don't care about what anyone has to say about me," said Ortiz, 24, of Ventura. "The media destroyed me, so therefore they gave me no love for anything. You guys took my heart from me and ripped it out. At the end of the day, I still have heart. I know what I'm here for. I know what I'm going to do to Mayweather, period."
When a fighter is ranked in the top 10 by all four major governing bodies, he probably should have better defense than John Molina showed last Friday when he stopped not-so-heavy-hitting Robert Frankel after five rounds in the lightweight main event at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif.
By Robert Morales - Paul Williams did more than lose a big fight to Sergio Martinez last November at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City - he was knocked out in the second round of a middleweight title bout that was supposed to be hotly contested. But whereas some fighters who have suffered the same fate have had difficulty recovering from the psychological trauma of such a devastating setback, Williams claims that is not the case with him. "To be honest, that was out of my mind as soon as it happened," said Williams, who July 9 will get back in the ring for the first time since that loss when he takes on Erislandy Lara of Cuba in the junior middleweight main event at the scene of the crime - Boardwalk Hall. "I got up, they checked me out. After that, somebody had a party as if I would have won. We still had the same party. Then I was down there at the casino tables as if nothing had happened." This way of thinking is something that has been prevalent in the Williams camp for some time, said George Peterson, his manager/trainer. "If you are going to accept winning, you have to accept losing," Peterson said. "Some people, they think it's a funeral. There is no need for that. You can always come back. The best have, and that is what we are looking at."
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez of Mexico fights under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. He will be making the first defense of his junior middleweight title Saturday when he takes on Ryan Rhodes of England in Mexico (on HBO). On paper, it seems Alvarez could have an easy time of it.
Since we are just a Manny Pacquiao signature away from his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, it's a good time to quickly look back at the first two. In the first one in May 2004, Marquez got up from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw, Marquez thus retaining his two featherweight belts. They fought again in March 2008 and Pacquiao won a split decision and took Marquez's super featherweight title.
By Robert Morales - Although Manny Pacquiao agreed to a settlement regarding his defamation lawsuit against Golden Boy Promotions executives Oscar de La Hoya and Richard Schaefer, the same is not true for Floyd Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Roger Mayweather. The five were named in the suit filed in December 2009 in Nevada District Court. It claimed remarks they made suggested Pacquiao was using performance enhancing drugs. "The lawsuit, just for purposes of clarity here, continues against all the other parties," Pacquiao's hot-shot attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, said Wednesday. "All the Mayweathers. It was resolved only with respect to the Golden Boy parties." Petrocelli was asked whose idea it was to come to the settlement with De La Hoya and Schaefer. "I don't feel like discussing how we got there because there is a confidentiality agreement," Petrocelli said. The settlement, reached Tuesday, came with a statement from de la Hoya and Schaefer that basically said they were sorry if their remarks were taken to mean that they believed Pacquiao was on PEDs. "Manny was satisfied with the terms and Golden Boy issued the public statement," Petrocelli said. Petrocelli would not say if money was involved in the agreement.
Step 8 of the 12-step program originally established by Alcoholics Anonymous requires one to make a list of all persons he or she has harmed and become willing to make amends. Step 9 says to make direct amends, except when doing so would injure the alcoholic or others.
He is ... 'The Thin Man'
By Robert Morales - Promoters, trainers and the like often dole rhetoric to help sell a fight. It's probably been going on for as long as boxing has existed. It's up to reporters and fans to decide how much is fact, and how much is fiction. But Freddie Roach seems genuinely concerned about the third fight between MannyPacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, tentatively slated to take place Nov. 12 - probably at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Roach, Pacquiao's longtime trainer, on Wednesday played host to a media workout for another of his fighters - Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez was typically late, so there was plenty of time for Roach to talk about Pacquiao-Marquez III. The first two fights - in 2004 and 2008 at featherweight and super featherweight - ended in a draw and split-decision victory for Pacquiao, respectively. "I'm a little bit scared of that fight," Roach said. "I think Marquez might have our number. He can do well with certain styles and he seems to do well with our style. I think we're bigger and better now, but that's my good solution, that we're bigger and better now." This third fight would be at a catch-weight of 144 pounds. "He just might know how to fight Manny Pacquiao," Roach said. "It makes me think, so I know I have my work cut out for me. I have to come up with a great game plan for that fight. It's obviously not an easy fight because, well, I know that he'll come to fight. I would have said that two weeks ago, too, but we were surprised that Shane (Mosley) didn't show up for the first time in his life.