Espinoza Responds To Beristain's Dumping of Mares
Manager Frank Espinoza had a somewhat harsh response to trainer Nacho Beristain basically washing his hands of bantamweight prospect Abner Mares of Mexico.
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Robert Morales
278 articles published
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278 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Robert Morales byline.
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Articles by Robert Morales: page 26
Insider Notebook: Vazquez Returns, Pacquiao Debate
By Robert Morales - BoxingScene.com has learned from undisclosed sources that Israel Vazquez will soon return to the ring and continue a career that has been on hold for 15 months because of three surgeries to repair a detached retina in his right eye. Vazquez is expected to make that announcement Thursday during an international conference call. Vazquez, 31, last fought March 1, 2008, against Rafael Marquez in Carson, Calif. It was their third fight in the span of a year and Vazquez's second victory in succession in what many have called the greatest trilogy in history. Marquez won their first fight in March 2007 in Carson when Vazquez did not answer the bell for the eighth round because of severe cartilage damage in his nose. But Vazquez stopped Marquez in the sixth round in August 2007 in Hidalgo, Texas, before winning a split decision over Marquez in the third fight.
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Insider Notebook: Hopkins vs. Haye? Schaefer Fires Back
By Robert Morales - Mike Criscio, manager of Chad Dawson, told this reporter last week that Joe Calzaghe will come out of retirement to fight Dawson before Bernard Hopkins will step into the ring with Dawson because Hopkins is simply afraid of Dawson. Well, for those thinking Criscio's bait will result in a Hopkins-Dawson fight, forget about it. That idea was shot down Wednesday with some heavy artillery from Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. And not because of any fear Hopkins might have of Dawson, but because Schaefer is scared stiff at the thought of how poor the ticket sales might be because of Dawson's inability to attract paying customers. “I don't think Bernard Hopkins has been afraid of anybody his entire career,” Schaefer told BoxingScene.com; Hopkins is promoted by Golden Boy and is a partner in the company. “One thing Bernard has always done, he has fought everyone and has never turned down any fights.” Since Hopkins is 44, Schaefer said that if he does fight again, it will probably be just one more time.
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Insider Notebook: Mum on Mayweather, Pacquiao Fever
By Robert Morales - Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, said this week that if Floyd Mayweather Jr. were to come out of retirement, he could take over the title as pay-per-view champion that was vacated when Oscar De La Hoya recently retired. Mayweather, of course, is presumably in negotiations to fight Golden Boy fighter Juan Manuel Marquez. Even if that does not materialize, there doesn't seem to be much doubt Mayweather will fight again. Of course, if he only comes out of retirement for a fight or two, he will never be able to come close to doing what De La Hoya did. We're talking 14.1 million pay-per-view buys that generated $696 million in revenue.
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Insider Notebook: Oscar is No Manny, Hopkins-Williams
By Robert Morales - Oscar De La Hoya's popularity as a fighter is indisputable. He set every pay-per-view record imaginable, and it all started with the terrific work done by promoter Bob Arum and his Top Rank Inc. A day after De La Hoya announced his retirement, Arum on Wednesday intimated that much of what transpired early on in De La Hoya's career was a set-up job that worked incredibly well. "None of it came by accident," said Arum, who promoted De La Hoya for roughly two-thirds of his 17-year career. "It was all a lot of hard work by a lot of people. A lot of innovative stuff. "The women that suddenly appeared, going crazy for Oscar, that wasn't an accident. That was something we took out of the Frank Sinatra book. You stir it up and then the fire starts and then you can step back and let it be natural. But it doesn't start naturally.
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Roach Still Mulling Over Final Decision To Train Margarito
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach advised BoxingScene.com that he was still mulling over a final decision as to whether or not he would actually become the new trainer of Antonio Margarito, once the boxer is again eligible to fight. Margarito called Roach about two weeks ago and asked the veteran trainer to take him on.
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Insider Notebook: Genaro Defeats Cancer, Margarito Appeal
By Robert Morales - It was 3:15 p.m. Wednesday on the West Coast. The phone rang and it was longtime publicist Bill Caplan calling from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Seconds later, Caplan handed the phone over to former junior lightweight world champion Genaro "Chicanito" Hernandez, who for the past six months has been battling rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer. To say Hernandez had good news would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. "I have no more tumor in my sinus area," said Hernandez, who spoke in whispered tones because the radiation treatments damaged his vocal chords. "The doctor today told me that the cancer seems to have been defeated. I got the final result 15 minutes ago. The only thing they're worried about is that I am still weighing only about 120 pounds and I that I have to continue the chemotheraphy treatments." We spoke to Hernandez for about 10 minutes, during which time he briefly cried. "Oh, wow, tears of joy," said Hernandez, when asked his first thoughts when his doctor gave him the good news. "I was thinking about all the support, the people that have prayed for me. It was God's will for me to survive what at one point was a deadly disease.
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Insider Notebook: Hopkins vs. Adamek - High Risk
By Robert Morales - Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, happened to be channel surfing one day when he ran into the fight last Dec. 11 between Tomasz Adamek and cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham. Adamek, a former 175-pound light heavyweight champion, was in his fifth fight at the 200-pound cruiserweight limit. And he took Cunningham's title via split decision. "When I saw what Adamek did to Cunningham, I was like, 'This guy is good,' " Schaefer said Monday. That's why, when Schaefer found out that 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins - a partner in Golden Boy - wants to move up from light heavyweight to challenge Adamek, he wasn't too sure what to think. "I said, 'Holy s**t,' " said Schaefer, who said he first heard of this during the recent Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton press tour in England. "I told Bernard, 'Are you serious?' I was really a bit worried and I still am. He said, 'That is the fight I want.' I said, 'You give me my marching orders and I will try and put the fight together.' So I am trying to put the fight together."
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Pavlik vs. Mora Agreement is Reached For The Summer
By Robert Morales - Promoter Bob Arum informed Boxingscene.com on Wednesday afternoon that he has come to terms with Sergio Mora’s team for a fight between Mora and middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. Once finalized, the world middleweight title fight will take place either June 20, July 18 or July 25, and most likely in Atlantic City. "I have talked to (Mora's promoter) Jeff Wald and everything is OK from their side," Arum said via telephone from Boston. Arum, who promotes Pavlik, said that he still has to meet with the fighter and his team before an accord can be reached. Arum said he would be meeting with Team Pavlik next week in Las Vegas in hopes of finalizing the deal.
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Insider Notebook: Hatton on Pacquiao, Booze, Status
By Robert Morales - It was Monday, 4:30 p.m. in Manchester, England. Ricky Hatton had just slept for a good hour during a train ride home following a training session. We were supposed to talk to him during the ride. But his special assistant, Paul Speaks, told us three times to call back in 20 minutes because "Ricky's asleep right next to me." Once Hatton took the phone after disembarking, it was pointed out to him that when he steps into the ring with Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, it will be the second time in his career that he will be in one of those "biggest fights of your career" scenarios. The first one came in December 2007 against Floyd Mayweather Jr. That one didn't go well for Hatton, who was stopped in the 10th round of a lopsided fight.
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