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HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

August 22, 2009

Toyota Center-Houston, Texas

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1. WBO NABO Middleweight (160 pounds) 10-Round Championship Match:

Danny Jacobs (17-0, 15 KO's, 159.75 pounds) vs. Ishe Smith (21-3, 9 KO's, 159 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Aaron Mitchell, who has not had an official match since he won the then vacant belt via 12-round unanimous decision over Delray Raines on November 21, 2008 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.

Jacobs was a top amateur boxer, and the favorite to qualify to represent the United States in his weight class at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. However, he was upset in the Olympic trials and turned pro with a technical knockout 29 seconds into round 1 over Jose Jesus Hurtado on December 8, 2007 on the untelevised undercard of the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Brooklyn, New York resident's last high profile match was an 8-round unanimous decision victory over Michael Walker on May 2, 2009 at the MGM Grand as part of the televised undercard on the Hatton-Manny Pacquiao PPV. Jacobs entered the match as a late replacement. Walker was supposed to face James Kirkland at the PPV. However, that match had to be scrapped when Kirkland was arrested a few weeks before the PPV for unlawful possession of a firearm while on probation. (Kirkland is still in jail stemming from that arrest and it looks like the Texan will be staying there for the foreseeable future.) Jacobs was given less then 2 weeks notice that he would be competing on the PPV. This short notice presented a second problem to Jacobs, other then the obvious lack of preparation time. Jacobs was scheduled to compete 8 days before the PPV on an ESPN2 card. The New Yorker was unable to pull out of the match, because he would have been suspended for no showing an advertised match. It counts as defrauding the ticket buying audience, and is automatic suspension. Jacobs was facing Jose Varela in that match and it was expected that Jacobs would win easily and escape the match uninjured. The major issue was that there are rules on how many rounds a boxer can box in competition within a certain time period. Jacobs had to score a knockout before the start of round 7 or would not be allowed to compete at the PPV. In boxing's version of WWE's Beat the Clock Challenge, Jacobs beat John Cena's time vs. Miz by stopping Varela in 4:29.

However, it was clear that short match did take its toll on Jacobs when he faced Walker. Starting in round 4, Jacobs, normally an all action boxer, started to noticeably pace himself against Walker. Jacobs had never gone 7 rounds before and to go 8 rounds the Brooklyn resident made the match very boring. Instead of delivering a scintillating knockout that would get people talking, it was clear that the crowd was not focusing on the match for the final few rounds. Jacobs ended up winning every round on 2 of the official judges' scorecards, but the match was not the marketing success it was intended to be. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/19/recap-of-daniel-jacobs-vs-michael-walker.html

Jacobs' last match was a technical knockout 1:59 into round 8 over George Walton on June 26 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona.

Jacobs is unranked by The Ring magazine and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 21 boxer in the world at 160 pounds.

Smith came to prominence as a cast member on the first season of The Contender reality series. He was favored to win, but lost in the quarterfinals via 5-round split decision to eventual champion Sergio Mora. Smith was still very popular on the show and defeated Anthony Bonsante via 5-round unanimous decision on May 24, 2005 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in a Fan's Favorite match.

The Las Vegas native is a natural 147-pounder. Smith had never boxed above 155 pounds before his time on The Contender. All 3 losses on Smith's record have come when he has weighed-in above 154 pounds. With this match scheduled to be contested at 160 pounds, Smith is at a huge size disadvantage.

Smith's last match was a 6-round unanimous decision victory over Chris Gray contested at a catch-weight of 164 pounds on May 8, 2009 at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The match was simply a tune-up match for Smith. Smith had been inactive for over 9 months with promotional issues and had just switched to Golden Boy Promotions. They matched Smith up with Gray to give him some rounds in real competition, before a match against a real opponent.

Smith is unranked by The Ring and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 36 boxer in the world at 154 pounds.

At 22-years old, Jacobs is 9 years younger then the 31-year-old Smith. Jacobs has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Smith stands 5' 10" tall. The New Yorker has the reach advantage with a 24.5" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to the 22.5" arm length of Smith. Jacobs is going to have a huge weight advantage in the ring. He has unofficially rehydrated to 175 pounds approaching match time. Smith has only unofficially rehydrated to 166 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. The judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Texas, California and Oklahoma. (HBO mistakenly has the California judge listed from Texas.) The referee is Laurence Cole. Harold Lederman will be keeping HBO's unofficial scorecard for this event.

Jacobs is very active in winning round 1, 10-9. The crowd in the arena appears to be rather harsh as it was undeservedly booing this match after 1 minute. Lederman scores round 1 for Jacobs, 10-9. Smith lands a few hard left hooks to win round 2 over the busier Jacobs, 10-9. The Las Vegas resident takes round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Jacobs throws a right hand that missed after the bell sounds to end round 3 and that enrages Smith. The referee had to hold back Smith from attacking Jacobs during the rest period. The punch that enraged Smith was actually not that late and was thrown as part of a combination that Jacobs had begun throwing before the bell sounded. Going backwards and counter-punching Jacobs wins round 3, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-28. Lederman also scores round 3 for Jacobs, 10-9, and has the young boxer ahead after 3 rounds, 29-28.

Jacobs is more aggressive in winning round 4 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Smith landed a combination that hurt Jacobs in the final 10 seconds to steal round 5, 10-9. Then well after the bell to end round 5, Smith started hitting Jacobs in the corner repeatedly with right hands. Smith then follows that up by giving Jacobs a face wash with his right glove as the referee tried to pull the boxer away from Jacobs. That was so egregious it could be grounds for a disqualification. It at least deserves a point deduction. The referee is not going to take a point here, which is very generous. Through 5 rounds, Jacobs has landed 121 of the 442 total punches he has thrown, for a 27% total connect percentage. Through 5 rounds, Smith has only landed 51 of the 200 total punches he has thrown, for a 26% total connect percentage. The reason this match is close is that Smith is landing the much harder punches when he connects. The referee calls timeout just as round 6 begins to tell both boxers, "No more games." Lederman scores round 5 for Smith, 10-9. Very close round 6 that Smith may have taken by landing the harder punches, 10-9. That makes the match even on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-57. Lederman scores round 6 for Jacobs, 10-9, and has the young boxer ahead after 6 rounds, 58-56.

With 2:35 to go in round 7, Smith pounds Jacobs several times on the left hip and is given his final warning by the referee for hitting low. The busier Jacobs wins round 7, 10-9. Jacobs takes round 7 on the Lederman scorecard, 10-9. According to CompuBox through the first 7 rounds, Jacobs is averaging 91 total punches thrown per round, while Smith is averaging 43 total punches thrown per round. With around 10 seconds to go in round 8, Jacobs has been cut over the right eye. It was probably caused by an unintentional clash of heads. Jacobs out-works Smith to take round 8, 10-9. Lederman scores round 8 the same. This is the first round 9 of Jacobs career, but he appears in no danger of running out of gas. Smith is not pushing the pace and Jacobs has paced himself so well that the New Yorker looks like he could easily go 15 rounds tonight. Smith landed a combination barely after the bell sounded to end round 9, and this time the referee is gong to take a point. This may not have been an intentional foul on the part of Smith, but he has already done more then enough to earn a point deduction. The crowd is booing, but that was a perfectly acceptable point deduction. Jacobs volume punching won him round 9 and the point deduction means he wins it big, 10-8. Smith's trainer rightfully instructs his charge before round 10 that the boxer needs a knockout to win following that point deduction. Jacobs takes round 9 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-8. Jacobs boxed a cautious round 10, allowing Smith to win it, 10-9. However, Jacobs wins the match on my scorecard, 96-93.

It is taking a really long time to add up the scorecards, which usually means something bad is about to happen. The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 96-93, 96-93, 100-89, all for the winner by unanimous decision, still undefeated and the new WBO NABO Middleweight Champion, Daniel "The Golden Child" Jacobs. The win moves Jacobs to 18-0 with 15 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Jacobs landing 254 of the 888 total punches he threw, for a 29% total connect percentage. Jacobs landed 155 of the 398 power punches he threw, for a 39% power connect percentage. Smith landed 137 of the 498 total punches he threw, for a 28% total connect percentage. The veteran boxer landed 99 of the 317 power punches he threw, for a 31% power connect percentage.

Jacobs was solid in this match, but is still green. He has huge defensive liabilities in that he continues to put his back against the ropes and is very susceptible to left hooks. Jacobs' high knockout rate appears to be a mirage created more by him facing weak opposition rather then him being a true power puncher. Jacobs has not come close to knocking out 2 of his last 3 opponents, which were the best opponents of his career. It appears Jacobs is a natural counter puncher who will win more and more based on a high workrate as his level of opposition increases. Jacobs defensive liabilities necessitate that he continue to be moved slowly. He is probably at least 2 years away from being a serious title challenger.

Smith performed as well as he could in this match. The scorecard that had him losing 100-89 is ridiculous. However, Smith deserved to lose and arguing about margin of victory is a waste of time. This is the wrong weight class for him. At a lower weight class his power could be more of a factor. Smith was never able to match Jacobs speed. Most boxers at 154 pounds are going to be less active then Jacobs, but Smith will not have the speed to match any of the top boxers in that weight class either. At this point, Smith seems destined to play the role of opponent to rising prospects.

At this point in the show HBO played a very long tribute video to the late Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest. This piece went about 10 minutes and was tremendous. It alone makes this show something worth watching on a replay. After the video package finished, the ring bell was struck 10-times to honor the fallen boxers.

2. IBF Junior Lightweight (130 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Malcolm Klassen (24-4-2, 15 KO's, 129.25 pounds) (c) vs. Robert Guerrero (24-1-1, 2 ND's, 17 KO's, 130 pounds)

Klassen won this title in his last match from Cassius Baloyi via technical knockout at 2:42 of round 7 on April 18, 2009 at the North-West University Sports Complex in Mafikeng, South Africa. Klassen is making his first defense of this title.

Klassen had an inauspicious start to his professional career. The South African won his first 3 professional matches against 3 opponents with a combined 0 professional victories. He then faced 3 opponents who had all won a professional boxing match and went 0-2-1.

The South African is currently in the midst of his second run with this title. He won it the first time via split decision over Gairy St. Clair on November 4, 2006 at the Emperor's Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa. Klassen failed to make a successful defense of the title during that reign, dropping the belt in his next match via split decision to Mzonke Fana on April 20, 2007 also at the Emperor's Palace.

Klassen is The Ring's number 2 contender to their vacant championship at 130 pounds.

Guerrero, a resident of Gilroy, California (home of the excellent Gavilan Hills Academy), began his amateur boxing career at a very young age. He had a very good amateur record, and would probably have qualified to represent the United States at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. However, he was unwilling to wait until after the 2004 Olympics to turn pro. Instead, Guerrero turned pro at 18-years old with a 4-round unanimous decision victory over Alejandro Cruz on April 22, 2001 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

The American's last high profile match was on Golden Boy Promotions' ill-fated HBO BAD card titled "The Young and The Reckless". It was at the San Jose Arena in San Jose, California, which is about a 45 minute train ride from Gilroy. Guerrero was the local draw on the show and opened the televised card against Daud Yordan for a fringe 130-pound title. The local favorite was expected to win in a route. Instead Guerrero probably won a very close round 1, 10-9. Then Guerrero was cut badly over his right eye by an accidental clash of heads with 2:00 to go in round 2. With 1:13 to go in round 2, the referee asked the doctor to check the cut and Guerrero told the doctor he could not see. Since the match had no gone the required rounds, it was ruled a no-decision. After the match, Guerrero was accused of quitting and lacking true fighting spirit. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/6/9/recap-of-robert-guerrero-vs-daud-yordan.html

Guerrero's last match, and only match since the no-decision with Yordan, was a technical knockout victory at 3:00 of round 8 over Efren Hinojosa on June 12 at the San Jose Arena. More important then the stoppage win for Guerrero was the fact that in that match was the fact he overcame a bad cut to win. In the last few rounds of the match, another accidental clash of heads caused a severe cut, this time over Guerrero's left eye. This time instead of saying he could not continue, Guerrero smiled. Guerrero was glad for the immediate opportunity to box through the test of adversity that his critics felt he had failed in his last match. In the end, Hinojosa told the doctor he could not continue due to arm injury after round 8.

Guerrero is The Ring's number 8 contender at 130 pounds.

At 26-years old, Guerrero is 2 years younger then the 28-year-old Klassen. Guerrero has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Klassen stands 5' 7" tall. The American has the reach advantage with a 22.5" arm length, compared to the South African's 22" arm length. The challenger will be the heavier boxer in the ring having unofficially rehydrated to 144 pounds approaching match time. The champion has only unofficially rehydrated to 142 pounds approaching match time. Guerrero will box out of the southpaw stance and Klassen will box out of the orthodox stance.

Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from the United States and the other is from South Africa. The referee is Jon Schorle.

Guerrero appears to land nearly all of his punches on the way to winning round 1 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Guerrero boxes an excellent round 2 and wins it, 10-9. The challenger is showing tremendous movement in this match. Guerrero is constantly circling to the point Klassen cannot get set to punch. Lederman scores round 2 for Guerrero, 10-9. Guerrero threw 70 punches more then Klassen in round 2. Guerrero continues to dominate and wins round 3, 10-9. After 3 rounds, Guerrero leads on my scorecard, 30-27. The challenger takes round 3 on the Lederman scorecard, 10-9, and is ahead on the Lederman scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27.

In round 4, Guerrero lands some good body punches and continues to dominate, winning the round, 10-9. Through 4 rounds, Klassen has landed 42 of the 154 total punches he has thrown, for a 27% total connect percentage. Through 4 rounds, Guerrero has landed 75 of the astonishing 443 total punches he has thrown, for a 17% total connect percentage. That means Guerrero is averaging over 110 total punches thrown per round, which is practically inhuman. Guerrero wins round 4 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Round 5 is closer, but the busier Guerrero still wins it, 10-9. Lederman scores round 5 for Klassen, who out-landed Guerrero in the round, 10-9. With 36 seconds to go in round 6, a left uppercut knocks out Klassen's mouthpiece. There is finally a lull in the action that allows the referee to call timeout and have Klassen's mouthpiece put back in with 14 seconds to go in the round. After a quick break the action is resumed. However, the break seemed to benefit Klassen who was favoring his left eye at the time of the stoppage and seemed largely recovered 10 seconds later when the action resumed. Guerrero easily wins round 6, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 60-54. Lederman scores round 6 for Guerrero, 10-9, and has the American ahead after 6 rounds, 59-55.

With around 25 seconds to go in round 7, Guerrero has once again been cut by an accidental clash of heads. The cut is above Guerrero's left eye this time and streaming blood. Guerrero's volume punching wins him round 7, 10-9. A close up in the corner after round 7 shows the cut over Guerrero's eye is huge. It is roughly 2" long and moderately wide. It is slightly off to the side and not bleeding directly into the eye, but it could be a serious problem for Guerrero. Lederman scores round 7 for Klassen, 10-9. Klassen may have won a slower round 8, 10-9. Guerrero wins round 8 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Round 9 is Klassen's best of the match and he wins it easily, 10-9. However, the challenger leads on my scorecard after 9 rounds, 88-83. The champion takes round 9 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9, but the challenger is ahead on Lederman's scorecard after 9 rounds, 87-84.

There is a long delay in starting round 10 for water to be toweled off the canvas. It appears that the clock operator forgot to stop the clock while the condensation was wiped up, meaning this round is only going to be 2:40 long. Klassen may have won a close round 10, 10-9. The cut over Guerrero's eye is worsening, but he it is not appearing to bother him. The blood appears to be getting in Guerrero's left eye now as the cut expands. Klassen is working over the cut with his own head on the inside. Guerrero has stopped using his jab and footwork to keep Klassen away from him in the last few rounds. That is what has turned this match from a Guerrero route into a competitive match. Through 10 rounds, Klassen has landed 130 of the 448 total punches he has thrown, for a 29% total connect percentage. Through 10 rounds, Guerrero has landed 159 of the exactly 1000 total punches he has thrown, for a 16% total connect percentage. Guerrero's pace has slackened to the point he is only averaging 100 total punches thrown per round, which is insane. Lederman scores round 10 for Guerrero, 10-9. Guerrero's non-stop punching had Klassen visibly frustrated in round 11. Round 11 was the challenger's best round in a while and he wins it easily on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. In round 11, Klassen landed only 5 of the 28 total punches he threw, for an 18% total connect percentage. In round 11, Guerrero poured on the offense landing 22 of the 104 total punches he threw, for a 21% total connect percentage. All of the CompuBox numbers were up for Guerrero in round 11, while they were all down for Klassen. After round 11, Guerrero is bleeding from his nose, but it should not factor in the waning minutes of the match. Klassen's corner tells their charge that Guerrero will run in round 12, therefore the champion needs to chase the American down and score a knockout to win. Their gameplan was to break Guerrero's will and score a knockout. So far that gameplan has failed miserably. Their thoughts that Guerrero would spend round 12 running, also failed. Guerrero boxed aggressively to win round 12. With 1:08 to go in round 12, Klassen's right foot slipped on the painted Quaker State logo on the canvas causing the champion to go down to the mat. The referee correctly ruled this a slip and the action was quickly restarted with 1:00 to go in the round. Guerrero takes round 12 easily and as Max Kellerman, who is doing color commentary of this event for HBO, correctly stated once the final bell sounded the American appears to have been redeemed with this exceptional performance. With Guerrero winning round 12 on both Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9, Guerrero wins the match on both of our scorecards by the same score of 117-111.

The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 117-111, 116-113, 116-112, all for the winner by unanimous decision and new IBF Junior Lightweight Champion of the World, Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero. The win moves Guerrero to 25-1-1 with 2 no-decisions and 17 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Guerrero landing 200 of the 1200 total punches he threw, for a 17% total connect percentage. That is the second most punches thrown by a boxer at 130 pounds in a match tracked by CompuBox. Guerrero landed 171 of the 619 power punches he threw, for a 28% power connect percentage. Klassen landed 143 of the 518 total punches he threw, for a 28% total connect percentage. The former champion landed 130 of the 411 power punches he threw, for a 32% power connect percentage.

Guerrero was phenomenal in this match. He worked at a near record pace, while showing tremendous footwork and defensive skills. After this match and Guerrero's last match, in which he was also cut, any critics questioning his heart have to be satisfied with the champion's fighting spirit. Furthermore, this win even more impressive is that Guerrero broke his left hand in round 4, and kept going to win by being the busier puncher. No one can legitimately question Guerrero's heart at this point. The Ring has elevated Guerrero 6 spots to become their number 2 contender at 130 pounds. Guerrero will be required to make a mandatory defense of his newly won title against Mzonke Fana, who Klassen dropped this title to the first time, in his next match. Golden Boy Promotions is talking about running a show on HBO on December 5 headlined by Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand (more on that in the next recap), and Guerrero's mandatory title defense would fit perfectly on that show.

Klassen was overwhelmed in this match by an opponent working at a frenetic pace, and that was too difficult for the South African to consistently hit. Klassen has only been dropped 3 spots by The Ring to become their number 5 contender at 130 pounds, because of the quality opposition that beat him. The former champion came in with a terrible gameplan and when it failed had no back up plan. A lot of this can be blamed on Klassen's trainer doing a poor job. The fact that they still had not figured out Guerrero entering the last round shows how ill prepared they were for this match. Klassen was facing an opponent hungry for redemption that would stop at nothing to win and could not be broken. The South African expected a weak willed challenger who was waiting to crumble before him. When Guerrero did not break quickly, Klassen broke. Klassen is a good boxer, but he needs to get together with a much better trainer that will have him mentally prepared to take on the top boxers in the division. In the meantime, Klassen will probably go back to facing a bunch of relatively anonymous opponents in South Africa.

3. WBO NABO Junior Welterweight Catch-Weight (138.5 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Juan Diaz (34-2, 17 KO's, 137.25 pounds) vs. Paulie Malignaggi (26-2, 5 KO's, 138.25 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Victor Ortiz who vacated it to go after a major world title at 140 pounds.

Diaz had an outstanding amateur boxing career. He qualified the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics at 16-years old. Unfortunately Olympic rules require a boxer to be 18-years old to compete in the Olympics. Therefore, multiple protests were filed to keep Diaz out of the Olympics. With the protests being upheld, Diaz looked to get a jump on his professional boxing career by turning pro on June 23, 2000 with a round 1 technical knockout of Rafael Ortiz in Mexico. Diaz had to begin his pro career in Mexico, because the rules in Texas prohibit anyone from competing in professional boxing in the state until they are 17-years old.

Diaz' last match was the probable match of the year for 2009. On February 28 in the same building that is hosting this event, Diaz lost via technical knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez at 2:40 of round 9. Diaz had a phenomenal workrate through the early rounds. To stay competitive with Diaz, the future Hall of Famer Marquez bested his previous career high for the number of total punches thrown in a round several times. However, the best Marquez of all-time was still trailing Diaz on the scorecards after 7 rounds. Then in round 8 the match fell apart for Diaz. With around 2:30 to go in round 8, a left uppercut opened a cut outside Diaz' right eye. Diaz is a brawler, but seems to freeze whenever he is cut. The Houstonian has 2 career losses. Both of those losses came when Diaz was ahead on the scorecards, until he was cut. In both matches, once Diaz was cut he was completely dominated. When Diaz saw his own blood in this match, the look on the young boxer's face completely changed. For the first time in the match Marquez landed a left hook that badly hurt Diaz at the end of round 8. After 8 rounds, Marquez had shattered his career best for total connects in a match, but was not winning on the scorecards with how good Diaz had been early in the match. The scorecards became irrelevant in round 9 as a combination capped by a hard right hand dropped Diaz to the mat with 45 seconds to go in the round. A glassy eyed Diaz was allowed to continue. However, Emmanuel Steward, who was doing color commentary of the event for HBO, knew immediately Diaz had no chance to last out the round. Diaz does not know how to hold on to recover, the Houstonian's instincts are to keep punching when he is hurt. That allowed Marquez to land a match ending right uppercut with 26 seconds to go in round 9. A full recap of that epic match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/20/recap-of-juan-manuel-marquez-vs-juan-diaz.html The 6 month break Diaz has had between that match and this one is only partially to recover from the damage he took against Marquez. In May Diaz graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science for University of Houston-Downtown and he needed the time off to finish his degree.

Diaz is The Ring's number 1 contender at 135 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Juan Manuel Marquez.

Malignaggi had a good amateur boxing career that culminated when he won the 2001 United States National Amateur Championships at 132 pounds.

The Brooklyn, New York native's last high profile match was a technical knockout loss at 3:00 of round 11 to Ricky Hatton on November 22, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Malignaggi entered the match as The Ring's number 1 contender to Hatton's Ring Championship at 140 pounds and the New Yorker chose to vacate his alphabet soup belt to determine who was the best 140-pounder in the world. At the end of the night, there were no doubts that Hatton was the king of the 140-pound division. Malignaggi used his excellent jab to win round 1. That was the only round Malignaggi would win in the match. Hatton dominated the rest of the match with his usual brawling tactics. Finally after round 11, Malignaggi's trainer, Buddy McGirt, threw in the towel to stop the American from taking any more of an unnecessary beating. This act of mercy had Malignaggi incensed and he immediately fired his trainer. However, it was the right move and is clear reading a recap of the match that can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/4/28/recap-of-ricky-hatton-vs-paulie-malignaggi.html

Malignaggi's last match, and only match since the loss to Hatton, was an 8-round unanimous decision victory over Christopher Fernandez on April 25, 2009 at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Malignaggi is The Ring's number 5 contender at 140 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Pacquiao.

At 25-years old, Diaz is 3 years younger then the 28-year-old Malignaggi. Malignaggi has the height advantage standing 5' 7" tall, while Diaz stands 5' 6" tall. The New Yorker has the reach advantage with a 23" arm length, compared to the 21.5" arm length of the Houstonian. Malignaggi will be the heavier boxer in the ring, having unofficially rehydrated to 149 pounds approaching match time. Diaz has only unofficially rehydrated to 145 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Oklahoma, Texas and California. (It is the same judging panel from the first match and HBO is still listing the California judge from Texas.) The referee is Laurence Cole. Cole is the top official in Texas and gets assigned to almost all of the big matches in the state. However, Malignaggi agreed to take this match at a catch-weight in Diaz' hometown on the condition that there were neutral judges and there was a neutral referee. A referee from Diaz' home state, would not count as neutral. Neither would the judge from Diaz' home state. Malignaggi is even upset about the California judge, because he is a Mexican-American and Malignaggi feels that favors the Mexican-American Diaz.

Malignaggi who is dedicating his ring walk to Gatti is vociferously booed coming to the ring. If Zach Ryder's current gimmick were a real person, it would be Malignaggi. He is a natural heel and instantly hated by every crowd for being an arrogant, annoying New Yorker.

Malignaggi starts this match very fast, and shows superior hand-speed in winning round 1, 10-9. At the end of round 1, Malignaggi was cut over his left eye by a right hand. Malignaggi was cut during the training camp for this match and it appears that small cut over his left eye has been re-opened. The cutman should be able to keep that wound from effecting Malignaggi as it is very small. Malignaggi who has historically been a jab heavy boxer due to an oft injured right hand, set the CompuBox record for the most jabs he has thrown in a round in round 1 at 84. To put that in perspective, the average number of jabs thrown in a round by a boxer at 140 pounds is 20. In round 1, Malignaggi more then quadrupled that number. Lederman scores round 1 for Malignaggi, 10-9. At the end of round 2, Diaz is once again confronted with his Kryptonite. Diaz has been cut over his left eye. The referee did not see what caused the cut, therefore he is ruling the cut came from a punch. That is the correct call, because a later replay showed Diaz was cut by a right uppercut. The Houstonian landed some good power punches on the inside to win round 2, 10-9. A close up in the corner after round 2 reveals that Diaz is cut much worse then Malignaggi. Diaz' cut runs almost the entire length of the upper eyelid on his left eye. The boxer's vision is likely to be impaired for the remainder of the match. Diaz wins round 2 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Malignaggi boxes well on the outside to win round 3 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9, and the New Yorker leads on both of our scorecards after 3 rounds, 29-28.

In round 4, Diaz appeared to hurt Malignaggi on the way to winning the round big, 10-9. However, Diaz is not in great shape. In round 4, he was wiping at his left eye several times, because so much blood had gotten into his eye. Lederman scores round 4 for Diaz, 10-9. Diaz lands the harder punches to win round 5 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. A close up in the corner after round 5 shows Diaz is in even more trouble. A second very wide cut has opened in the brow line directly above his left eye. That cut was bleeding heavily in round 5. The referee is saying between rounds that this second cut was caused by an elbow. The referee gave Malignaggi a second and very stern warning for elbowing saying it was the New Yorker's last warning in round 5. At the time, that appeared to be a very weak call, since far worse elbows are not penalized all the time. (Guerrero threw a few nifty ones in the last match to counter Klassen's head butts.) At the start of round 6, the referee calls timeout to signal to all of the judges that the second cut above Diaz' left eye was caused by an accidental clash of heads. This is confusing. For the record, Malignaggi's cut has not been bleeding for several rounds. The busier Malignaggi wins a very close round 6, 10-9, and that makes the match even on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-57. Lederman scored round 6 the same with Malignaggi winning it, 10-9, and also has the match even after 6 rounds, 57-57. The doctor checked on Diaz in the corner after round 6, and ruled the Houstonian fit to continue. Through 6 rounds, Diaz has landed 91 of the 362 total punches he has thrown, for a 25% total connect percentage. Malignaggi has landed 105 of the 519 total punches he has thrown, for a 20% total connect percentage. This event, which had already been scheduled for 2:45 is running ridiculously long. When the bell sounded to end round 6, HBO had been scheduled to run the screen advising parents that True Blood is starting and to get the children out of the room.

Diaz lands the more significant punches to win a close round 7, 10-9. The hometown boxer takes round 7 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. With about 1 minute to go in round 8, Malignaggi begins to experience a significant equipment malfunction. Malignaggi is wearing very elaborate trunks that have lots of tassels. These trunks have now become wet and because of the added weight are steadily working their way down Malignaggi's backside. This is the spot that Shawn Michaels did with Razor Ramon in their ladder match at WrestleMania X, where Michaels' backside was completely exposed for about a minute. Luckily, Malignaggi is wearing undergarments that the entire world is getting the privilege of seeing, many in high definition. Malignaggi wins round 8 with his superior jab and underwear exposed, 10-9. Lederman scores round 8 for Malignaggi, 10-9. Malignaggi appears to greatly out-land Diaz in round 9, but Diaz appeared to land the only meaningful punches of the round. The effective punching earns Diaz the very close round 9, 10-9, and he leads on my scorecard after 9 rounds, 86-85. At this point, Diaz' left eye is a mess, but he is not letting it effect him. Lederman scores round 9 for the busier Malignaggi, 10-9, and has Malignaggi ahead after 9 rounds, 86-85.

The busier Malignaggi wins round 10 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. During round 10, Malignaggi twice stopped to shout something over at the HBO commentators and completely took his focus off of Diaz. The doctor again checked on Diaz' cuts after round 10 and ruled the boxer fit to continue. Malignaggi uses excellent movement to win round 11, 10-9. The New Yorker wins round 11 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. The busier Malignaggi wins round 12, 10-9, and takes the match on my scorecard, 115-113. Lederman scores round 12 for Diaz, who landed the harder punches in the round, 10-9, but Malignaggi wins the match on the Lederman scorecard, 115-113.

The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 116-112, 115-113, 118-110 all for the winner by unanimous decision and the new WBO NABO Junior Welterweight Champion, Juan "The Baby Bull" Diaz. The win moves Diaz to 35-2 with 17 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Diaz landing 178 of the 663 total punches he threw, for a 27% total connect percentage. Diaz landed 123 of the 434 power punches he threw, for a 28% power connect percentage. Malignaggi landed 191 of the 949 total punches he threw, for a 20% total connect percentage. The New Yorker landed 80 of the 328 power punches he threw, for a 24% power connect percentage.

Diaz said in his post match interview that he was glad to prove in this match that he can box effectively after being cut. The Houstonian says he wants a rematch with Marquez next.

Malignaggi in his post match interview said that Texas always gives decisions in favor of local boxers. That is largely true. Texas has a horrible boxing commission. Malignaggi then put over Houston as a great boxing city and Diaz as a great boxer. When asked about who he would like to face next, Malignaggi went on a Vince Russo style rant about politics. At that point HBO shut the microphone off while he was still ranting and Kellerman was smiling at the run away train that is Malignaggi's mouth.

Diaz was solid in this win. He is now The Ring's number 5 contender at 140 pounds. That makes 4 of The Ring's 6 top ranked boxers at 140 pounds 25-years old or younger. However, Diaz is probably not best suited to the 140-pound division. Diaz is seen as a smaller version of Ricky Hatton. The real Ricky Hatton overwhelmed Malignaggi with his strength and physicality. Diaz was never able to manhandle Malignaggi the way Hatton was. The direct comparison seems to indicate that Diaz does not have the size to be successful doing what he did at 135 pounds at 140 pounds. There are still plenty of matches out there for the young boxer at 135 pounds. Should Marquez lose to Mayweather, a rematch between the 2 Golden Boy promoted boxers seems a lock. There is also the huge positive for Diaz to take out of this match that he proved for the first time that he can box effectively after being cut.

It appears the people who wrote Malignaggi off after his loss to Hatton were a bit premature. He is a legitimate top 140-pounder, who came up against the best 140-pounder in the world and got beat. The same thing that had happened to everyone else Hatton had faced at 140 pounds. A lot of people were outraged by this decision, but it was not that bad. The 115-113 and 116-112 scorecards in favor of Diaz were completely justifiable. The 118-110 scorecard in favor of Diaz was ludicrous. (However, it was not as ridiculous as that 100-89 scorecard in favor of Jacobs turned in by another judge on this panel in the opening match of this telecast.) Still paraphrasing the comments from the first match, Malignaggi was reasonably beaten in this match. Arguing the margin of defeat or victory is rather pointless. Wins and losses are what matter in boxing, there is no tie-breaker in boxing where someone can miss the playoffs based on their margin of victory totals. The fact this was in Diaz' hometown may have factored into the decision, but Malignaggi has gotten a hometown decision in his career, too. Malignaggi probably benefited from being the hometown boxer to make the first successful defense of his 140-pound title against Herman Ngoudjo. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/11/23/recap-of-paulie-malignaggi-vs-herman-ngoudjo.html This outcome was probably the best thing that could happen to Malignaggi. Malignaggi is known for being a boring boxer. Tonight he lost an exciting and controversial decision. The fact 1 of the scorecards was completely ridiculous helps his case as he markets himself down the line as a boxer wronged by the system. That will make people want to see him, again. That means Malignaggi's next match will probably not be an untelevised 8-round match, like his last match. The Ring only dropped Malignaggi 1 spot to make him their number 6 contender at 140 pounds. There are currently 6 world champions in this division and several other big names. Malignaggi will likely end up facing one of them in the next 6 months by default.

When the final credits finished rolling, this event had gone 36 minutes past its allotted 2:45. Despite what Malignaggi said, this event had a terrible crowd. This was a really good show throughout. All of the matches were fast-paced and entertaining. However, the crowd only cared about the main event and were booing very good undercard matches. That meant to enjoy the undercard matches at times the viewer had to ignore the crowd. Still an absolute recommended watch and the tribute video about 50 minutes in was something special to tune-in to see. It shows why HBO is the top network on television.

News and Notes: Three suspects have been arrested in the murder of Vernon Forrest. The first 2 are not believed to be the shooter and waived their rights to a pre-trial hearing. Atlanta police then caught the third suspect, believed to be the shooter wearing a wig. It appears the shooter, 30-year-old Charman Sinkfield, figured out that the reason the first 2 suspects waived their right to a pre-trial hearing is because they are going to strike a plea deal to testify against him. Sinkfield, a 3-time convicted felon, looks set to spend the remainder of his life in a Georgia jail.

The Quebec coroner's office has asked to see the files on the death of Arturo Gatti from Brazil. This is requiring the involvement of the Canadian and Brazilian governments to get this document exchange handled. Until the Quebec coroner's office has had a chance to review the Brazilian files and has the toxicology reports back, they will not issue the results of their second autopsy of the legendary brawler. That means their findings should not come out for a few more weeks.

Nick Charles, play-by-play commentator for Showtime's ShoBox series since the series started in 2001, is going to be taking an extended leave of absence. The 63-year-old Charles has been diagnosed with bladder cancer and has already begun treatment to combat the disease in Houston.

Now on to some good news. The details for September 19 Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez PPV are largely set. This PPV looks to have one of the strongest undercard line-ups in years. The top undercard match is going to be a rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez of their controversial draw in February for John's 126-pound title. The opening match will feature possibly the most entertaining boxer in the sport, Australia's Michael Katsidis, facing 2004 United States Olympic boxer Vincente Escobedo for a vacant interim 135-pound title. The other match of the televised card will see Zab Judah begin his move down to 140 pounds facing Antonio Diaz in a 144-pound catch-weight match. The main event will also be held at a catch-weight of 144 pounds, and would normally be a non-title match. That is because Mayweather vacated all of his belts to "retire" and Marquez' championships are at 135 pounds. However, the WBC has seen this as a golden opportunity to create a new type of championship. Mayweather and Marquez will be competing for the "WBC Diamond Championship". The new belt exists independent of weight classes and is designed to get sanctioning fees from catch-weight matches. This new trinket carries all the prestige and legitimacy of the TNA Legend's Championship when Booker T created and then bestowed that belt upon himself.

As for the Mayweather family, they have had an interesting last few weeks. To start Roger Mayweather, the boxer's uncle and trainer, was arrested on August 4 on charges of felony coercion and battery-strangulation. Roger apparently tried to beat up a 25-year-old woman who he used to train. The teacher/student relationship had gone sour and she switched gyms. The woman was staying with someone who was renting the apartment from Roger. At some point, Roger determined it was time for her to move out of the apartment he owned. The exact details of what happened are unclear. The woman went to the hospital with marks on her neck and face, but she also apparently tried to hit Roger with a lamp. The courts are probably going to end up sorting this out. In the meantime, Roger has continued to train Junior. Since this is not the NFL, where a strong commissioner would keep a person under a felony indictment from competing, Roger should be able to corner Junior against Marquez. However, should Roger be unavailable, Floyd Mayweather, Sr. who is again speaking to Junior, just in time for an HBO special, would take over as Junior's trainer. Senior has been sitting in on the training sessions and it would presumably be a seamless transition.

There is still more drama for the Mayweather family. On Sunday, there was a shooting at a Las Vegas skating rink. No one was injured, but one car was perforated by the bullets. Junior's car was seen speeding away from the rink following the shooting. According to Senior, Junior goes to that rink with his (Junior's) son every Sunday. (Comments like these help people understand why Junior does not get along with Senior.) On Monday police searched Junior's home and car, but reportedly found nothing. An associate of Junior's is the prime suspect in the shooting, but Junior is not officially a suspect. Junior has been implicated in a few assaults over the years, but has stayed clear of being linked to shootings. This is still something to monitor.

Also for anyone who missed it, Junior showed up over 45 minutes late to the start of the Raw he was supposed to host, so the WWE Universe was treated to one hour of Raw is Thunder on Monday.

On August 19, the Nevada State Athletic Commission passed 2 key reforms that apply to both boxing and MMA. The first is stemming from Steve Mazzagatti missing the match ending eye poke in a match in the UFC. The commission has enacted limited instant replay. At the discretion of the referee, they will have the ability to review the final seconds of the match to determine if a foul lead to the finish. Replay in Nevada will not be as extensive as it is in New Jersey, where the referee has the opportunity to go back and decide if a knockdown was caused by a slip or punch. The Marquez-Mayweather PPV will either be the first event in Nevada with replay or the last without it, depending on how quickly the paperwork gets filed. The other key change is to allow combat sport athletes who have formerly had bleeding on the brain to apply for a license. This is targeted mostly at 1 high profile boxer, Edwin Valero. Valero is considered a future star at 135 pounds, where he already holds a title. However, he was found to have had bleeding on the brain from a non-boxing injury during a physical by the New York State Athletic Commission and his license was placed on indefinite medical suspension. The laws in New York have since changed. That allowed Valero to get licensed in Texas, but no other state with a commission had approved Valero for a license. This had forced Valero to compete exclusively in Mexico and Asia, where legitimate pre-match physicals were as common as good Great Khali matches.

The key detail has been finalized for the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto PPV main event on November 14. That is that Cotto's 147-pound title will be on the line in that match. That means should Pacquiao defeat Cotto in the match, the Filipino will break the record for title wins in different weight classes. Currently, Pacquiao shares the record at having won a major sanctioned title in 6 different weight classes with Oscar De La Hoya.

A key undercard match for the November 14 PPV is already coming together. Top Rank Promotions has already applied to the state of Nevada to get Valero a boxing license, so he can be in the featured undercard match on the PPV. Valero getting a license from Nevada is hardly guaranteed, but it appears probable at this point. Top Rank is talking about matching Valero up with 130-pound titlist Humberto Soto. Soto would move up to 135 pounds to challenge for Valero's title in that match. Already signed for the PPV's undercard is Daniel Santos vs. Yuri Foreman for a 154-pound title.

Following the last recap, Devon Alexander has become The Ring's number 4 contender at 140 pounds. Amir Khan moved up 1 spot to take Junior Witter's spot as The Ring's number 3 contender at 140 pounds. After quitting on his stool against Alexander, Witter has dropped completely out of The Ring rankings. That show's main event saw Timothy Bradley defeat Nate Campbell on a stoppage caused by a cut. The referee incorrectly ruled the cut was caused by a punch and not an unintentional clash of heads. The California State Athletic Commission has since overturned the ruling and changed the outcome to a no-contest. Even with this ruling there are no plans for a Bradley-Campbell rematch.

There were 2 minor PPV's on August 15. The first featured Roy Jones, Jr. vs. Jeff Lacy in a match to see who was the least past their prime at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi. It turned out to be Jones, who won a fringe 175-pound title via technical knockout at 3:00 of round 10, when Lacy did not answer the bell to start round 11. It appears Lacy was completely ruined by the loss to Joe Calzaghe 3 years ago. It appears Jones will next face Danny Green, for a fringe 200-pound title on another minor PPV on November 21 in Green's native Australia. Green defeated Julio Cesar Dominguez via round 5 technical knockout in an undercard match on this PPV.

The second PPV at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas featured Nonito Donaire moving up in weight to capture a vacant interim title at 115 pounds over Rafael Concepcion, who missed weight by 4.5 pounds making Concepcion 2 weight classes above the contracted limit, via 12-round unanimous decision. Donaire is looking to face Fernando Montiel or Jorge Arce next. After that, Donaire plans to continue moving up in weight and capturing titles, like his countryman Pacquiao. Donaire believes he may be able to continue to win championships all the way up to 135 pounds.

The International Olympic Committee has voted to add women's boxing to the 2012 London Summer Olympics. There will be 3 weight classes of women's boxing with 12 competitors in each weight class. To make room for the new female boxers, a men's weight class is going to be eliminated from the 2012 London Olympiad. Olympic women's boxing is going to use the same horrific scoring system that men's Olympic boxing does. This addition was considered overdue, though. Boxing was the only remaining sport at the Summer Olympics without a female equivalent. Now, the only Olympic sport remaining with only a men's division and no women's division is ski jumping. (As an aside, this same IOC meeting voted to add golf to the 2016 Olympics. They also decided that baseball and softball will not be coming back in 2016, after being the first sports removed from the Olympics in over 70 years.)

There was an interesting side story of the IOC adding women's boxing to the Olympics. Cuba, the dominant power in amateur boxing, has said they will not field a women's boxing team.

Vitali Klitschko has signed to defend his heavyweight title against Cris Arreola on September 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The match will be carried live on HBO. This match came together at the last minute as Klitschko had a deal in place to face David Haye on September 12 in Germany. However, Haye pulled out with a case of the liver tail. Arreola was going to face Oleg Maskaev on HBO on October 3, but was able to pull out to take this title match. Arreola had already been training for that match when this one was signed. That means Arreola should no be more out of shape then the obese heavyweight normally is for this match.

Wladimir Klitschko's agent reported last week that the heavyweight champion had surgery to repair injured tendons in his left shoulder several weeks ago and will be out of action for the remainder of 2009. Klitschko hopes to return in early 2010 on HBO with a mandatory title defense against Eddie Chambers.

On August 11, Kelly Pavlik signed to defend his 160-pound titles against Paul Williams on October 3 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The match was going to be carried live on HBO. This was going to be a huge money match. HBO was going to pay $3.75 million to broadcast the match and it was expected to do a gate of roughly $2 million. The final contract had Williams getting nearly $2 million with the provision that Pavlik got a rematch in the event he lost. For this match to happen, it was going to have to endure a legal challenge from Sergio Mora who says he has a signed contract for the next shot at Pavlik's titles. Mora was to face Pavlik for those belts on a June 27 PPV, but Pavlik withdrew from that match with a staph infection in his left hand and promotional problems. Pavlik has smoothed out the promotional problems with his promoter Top Rank, but the Pavlik-Williams match was officially postponed on August 17, because Pavlik has once again developed a staph infection in his left hand. It appears this match will be rescheduled for either November 21 or December 5 with November 21 being the preferred date. In either case the match will still be held at Boardwalk Hall.

It appears Versus is going to drop its boxing coverage at the end of this year. That is truly disappointing, because at the end of 2008 Versus was expected to televise numerous high quality events for the next several years. In 2008, Versus carried the Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano match live from Manchester that drew the biggest crowd to see a match in England since World War II. They also carried was probably the best overall televised card of 2008 featuring Tomasz Adamek vs. Steve Cunningham for the vacant Ring Championship at 200 pounds. To reflect on the good times, here is the original recap of that event: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2008/12/16/versus-fight-night-live-recap.html

On August 15, I had the privilege of covering the latest Electronic Arts press conference on EA SPORTS MMA. The full recap of that press conference, which included the official announcement of Randy Couture's inclusion in the game can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/16/full-ea-sports-mma-press-conference-report.html

The next recap will be of the August 28 ESPN 2 event featuring Randall Bailey challenging for Juan Urango's 140-pound title and Tavoris Cloud vs. Clinton Woods for a vacant 175-pound belt.

Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck

number1contender.net

Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for f4wonline.com

Hidden Valley Lake, CA

I can be reached for feedback and comments at ZurRoadie@aol.com or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.