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ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Recap

 

August 28, 2009

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino-Hollywood, Florida

 

 

 

ESPN canceled their Wednesday Night Fights series this year. That has allowed them a larger budget to carry several major title matches this year on their Friday Night Fights broadcast.

 

 

1. IBF Light Heavyweight (175 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Tavoris Cloud (19-0, 18 KO's, 174 pounds) vs. Clinton Woods (42-4-1, 24 KO's, 173.5 pounds)

 

 

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Chad Dawson who vacated the title to take a better paying rematch against Glen Johnson over the mandated title defense against Cloud.

 

Cloud had a solid amateur boxing career that peaked when he lost in the finals of 2002 United States Championships to Curtis Stevens.

 

The Floridian was offered a later big money shot at this title on HBO, but insisted on challenging for it now. HBO offered to put Cloud in a showcase match on the televised undercard of the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson II match, scheduled for November 7 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Cloud would then get a guaranteed shot at the winner of Dawson-Johnson II on HBO for big money. Unfortunately, business sense and patience are not Cloud's specialty. Therefore, he is boxing for the title tonight for a fraction of the money the 2 HBO matches would have paid him.

 

Cloud's last match was a technical knockout victory 1:50 into round 10 over Julio Gonzalez on August 8, 2008 at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. Cloud dominated the match, which made him the mandatory contender to this title. This was the first time Cloud had been in a match that had gone past round 5, because his record has been built on very soft opposition in the South and Midwest.

Cloud is unranked by The Ring magazine and due to more then a year of inactivity is unranked by boxrec.com.

 

Woods, a native of Sheffield, England, has boxed the majority of his career in England. He had only 2 matches in the United States and both were blowout losses. The first was a technical knockout loss to a still in his prime Roy Jones, Jr. on September 7, 2002 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. That match ended at 1:29 of round 7 when Woods' corner threw in the towel, because their charge was taking too much of a beating.

 

The Englishman talked about retiring following his last match in the United States, when he lost this title in an abysmal 12-round unanimous decision to Antonio Tarver on April 12, 2008 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. Woods was lethargic throughout much of the match. Tarver was available to be hit, but Woods seemed intent on not punching. It seemed that the Englishman had a severe case of jet-lag in the match and was not ready to compete that night. Tarver showed no respect for Woods' boxing skills in that match and the Englishman's performance was so dreadful the American was never given a reason to respect them. The show opened with Dawson defeating Johnson in an exciting match. That perfectly set up the story of Dawson taking over the 175-pound division from the ancient boxers who were in the main event, and clearly not at the top of the division anymore. (That is exactly what happened as Dawson went and solidly defeated Tarver twice after Tarver had defeated Woods.) A full recap of the Tarver-Woods match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/28/recap-of-antonio-tarver-vs-clinton-woods.html

 

Woods' last match was a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Elvir Muriqi on February 14, 2009 at the Hotel de France in St. Helier on the Channel Island of Jersey. Muriqi is a solid 175-pounder that loses to all of the top 175-pounders, and Woods did what he should have by defeating Muriqi easily on all of the scorecards.

 

Woods is The Ring's number 7 contender to their vacant championship at 175 pounds.

 

At 27-years old, Cloud is 10 years younger the 37-year-old Woods. Woods has the height advantage standing 6' 2" tall, while Cloud stands 5' 10" tall. The larger Englishman likely has the reach advantage with a 76" wingspan, but there are no reach measurements available for Cloud at this time. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, the IBF mandates that boxers weigh-in within 10 pounds of the weight limit on the day of the match. That means both boxers should be relatively the same size in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

 

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. The hometowns of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are not announced. The referee is Telis Assimenios. Teddy Atlas, who is also doing color commentary of this event for ESPN2, will keeping ESPN2's unofficial scorecard.

 

Cloud comes out very aggressive and takes round 1, 10-9. The young American may be starting this match too aggressively. It is unlikely he will be able to maintain this pace very long, especially with very little experience in longer matches and after such a long layoff. Woods wins round 2, 10-9. The Englishman started to take over the match in the second half of round 2.  Cloud is throwing lots of very hard punches that Woods is blocking with his gloves or slipping. This is about the best start to the match that Woods could have hoped for, as Cloud's pace has noticeably slowed from the opening round. Whenever this match is contested on the outside Cloud cannot effectively land against Woods, and on the inside Woods is blocking most of Cloud's hooks. Woods more precise punching wins a close round 3, 10-9, and Woods leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-28. Atlas scored round 2 for Woods, 10-9. However, Atlas scored rounds 1 and 3 for Cloud, both by the same score of 10-9, and that puts the American up on the Atlas scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-28. Cloud may be throwing his punches too hard. The American is trying to muscle his punches threw Woods' guard, rather then look for openings. This is going to exhaust Cloud quickly. Still, it could win Cloud some rounds based on activity, and if the judges do not see how many of Cloud's punches are being blocked. In round 3, Cloud landed 34 of the 110 total punches he threw, for a 31% total connect percentage. In round 3, Woods landed 20 of the 44 total punches he threw, for am outstanding 45% total connect percentage.

 

Cloud lands a few hooks to win a close round 4, that was largely a jabbing contest, 10-9. With 1:06 to go in round 5, the referee calls timeout, because Cloud's mouthpiece was knocked out by a punch from Woods. The pace of this match has slowed greatly and that is making it very hard to score, because few meaningful punches are being landed. For knocking out Cloud's mouthpiece, Woods wins a lackluster round 5, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 5 rounds, 48-47. Atlas scored rounds 4 and 5 for Cloud by the same score of 10-9, and has Cloud ahead after 5 rounds, 49-46.

 

This will be only the second round 6 of Cloud's career. The much busier Cloud wins round 6, 10-9. Cloud wins round 7 easily, 10-9, and has taken the lead on my scorecard, 67-66. Woods is not blocking as many of the hooks as he did in the early rounds. The Englishman is once again appearing old inside a Florida ring. Through the first 5 rounds, Cloud averaged 25 punches landed per round, while Woods averaged 24 punches per round. In rounds 6 and 7, Woods' defense is withering as Cloud has been averaging 38 punches landed per round, while Woods has been consistent landing 23 punches per round. Cloud won rounds 6 and 7 on the Atlas scorecard both, 10-9, and leads on the Atlas scorecard after 7 rounds, 69-64.

 

Cloud had Woods hurt badly in the last minute of round 8 and won it big, 10-9. Round 8 could reasonably have been scored 10-8 with how badly Woods was hurt in the last minute. Atlas did score round 8 for Cloud, 10-8. Woods decided to try and slug it out with Cloud in round 9. That is a terrible idea, but resulted in a very entertaining round. Cloud landed the harder punches to hurt Woods again in round 9, 10-9, and after 9 rounds Cloud leads on my scorecard 87-84. Cloud is clearly very tired at this point, but Woods is almost out of it. Woods cannot take many more rounds like round 9, or the Englishman's corner will be forced to throw in the towel. Atlas scores round 9 for Cloud, 10-9, and has Cloud ahead in the match after 9 rounds, 89-81.

 

The American hurts Woods badly in round 10 and wins it easily, 10-9. The referee was taking a serious look at stopping the match several times in round 10. If Woods has another round like round 10, it will likely be the final round of his career. This is the first round 11 of Cloud's career. Conditioning could have been a problem for Cloud had his opponent not been completely shot at this point. Cloud easily wins a slower round 11, 10-9. The only reason Woods is still standing is because Cloud does not have the energy to finish the match. Entering round 12, Cloud is bleeding from his nose. Cloud cruises his way to winning round 12, 10-9, and the match on my scorecard, 117-111. The American won rounds 10 through 12 on the Atlas scorecard all by the score of 10-9, and Cloud wins the match on the Atlas scorecard, 119-108.

 

The official decision courtesy of Bob Alexander is that the judges have scored this match: 116-112, 116-112, 116-112, all for the winner by unanimous decision, still undefeated, and the new IBF Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Tavoris Cloud. The win moves Cloud to 20-0 with 18 wins coming by way of knockout.

 

The final punch track numbers have Cloud landing 371 of the 1113 total punches he threw, for a 33% total connect percentage. Woods landed 265 of the 677 total punches he threw, for a very good 39% total connect percentage.

 

Cloud in his post match interview called out Dawson for facing old boxers. The new champion then talked about his willingness to face the young 37-year-old Woods. (This claim is completely ridiculous, more on it in the review of the match.)

 

Cloud may be a top boxer in the future, but was not dazzling against the past his prime Woods. The new champion was a little rusty in this match. His pace was inconsistent, and that is likely a sign of inexperience and inactivity. Cloud's conditioning needs work, but that will probably come with more activity. He also needs to work on being efficient with his punches. Cloud wastes a lot of punches on his opponents' gloves, which is aiding in the issue of fatigue. Cloud throws his punches too hard. By the end of the match, Cloud's punches had lost a lot of their power as he appeared to become arm weary with the energy he wasted in the early rounds. Against an opponent that tries to push the pace, Cloud could be in real trouble. Tonight he was in against a boxer with no power and a slow style. That allowed Cloud to slow down without paying for it. Against the divisions elite, which he says he wants to face, Cloud would be in for a world of trouble. As for Cloud being ducked by Dawson, that is ridiculous. Dawson was going to face Cloud, but HBO, who has agreed to pay Dawson more then a million dollars for his next match, refused to broadcast Dawson-Cloud. As noted, they offered to have Cloud work a tune-up match on the November 7 show and then air guarantee to air the title match. HBO was going to pay Cloud more for his tune-up match on November 7 then the boxer received for his title match tonight on ESPN. One of the 40-year-old men who Cloud is upset that Dawson chose to face instead of him was Tarver who defeated Woods. That is the young man, Cloud just bragged about beating. The other old man Dawson is facing Johnson, the top ranked boxer at 175 pounds, not named Bernard Hopkins or Chad Dawson. The 175-pound division is not very good after Hopkins, Dawson and Johnson. Going into this match, the boxers ranked immediately above Woods on The Ring's 175-pound list were Roy Jones, Jr. at 6 and Tarver at 5. With Jones challenging for a 200-pound title in November, the best match for Cloud would be to try and face the semi-retired Tarver. Showtime could probably be convinced to buy it. It would also be a rather even match as Tarver is largely done, and Cloud is still very green. Tarver's slow style of boxing on the outside should dominate Cloud if the veteran has anything left. If Tarver is completely over the hill, Cloud should be able to get on the inside and drag an entertaining match out of Tarver.

 

Woods has taken a lot of damage in the ring and should seriously think about retiring. He was never competitive with Tarver, who is significantly past his prime. Tonight, Woods faded badly, which can be a sign of age. Woods' defense collapsed as the match wore on and he risks serious injury if he continues in the sport. The division is bad enough he can probably continue winning and remain at its upper levels for a while. However, for his own safety it is probably time to leave the sport of boxing behind.

 

 

 

2. IBF Junior Welterweight (140 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Juan Urango (21-2-1, 16 KO's, 139 pounds) (c) vs. Randall Bailey (39-6, 35 KO's, 139.5 pounds)

 

 

Urango won this title when it was vacant via unanimous decision over Herman Ngoudjo on January 30, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. This was the first of the matches ESPN purchased with the extra money they saved from canceling the Wednesday Night Fights series. Montreal is getting near infamous for rigging matches for hometown boxers and they did their best to guarantee the local boxer, Ngoudjo, would walk away with the decision here. First, assigned to the contest was Montreal based referee Marlon B. Wright. Wright is literally the worst major hometown official in either the United States or Canada, and there is not even a close second. (Wright is not fit to be the official for a 5-year-old Tee Ball game where they do not keep score, he is that bad.) Wright and the time keeper did work to help Ngoudjo win, but Urango was so dominant that he won the match easily on the scorecards. To do that, Urango scored 2 knockdowns in round 3. Urango even seemed to poised to score a knockout in the round 3. However, with Ngoudjo badly hurt and nearly a minute left in the round, Wright stopped the action to spend several seconds sternly warning Urango for a phantom low blow. That allowed Ngoudjo to recover and last out the round. In round 10, Wright decided to be a factor in the match, again. Ngoudjo told Wright he was hit low. The thing is Wright never saw the punch Ngoudjo was complaining about it, which was not a low blow. At the asking of the Montreal boxer, Wright promptly moved in to vigorously chastise Urango for hitting low and threatened to take a point at the next fictional offense. Wright was looking to do it the rest of the match. Luckily, Ngoudjo forgot to signal Wright to take the point and Urango was not throwing low blows. That made it hard for even Wright to find a punch to deduct Urango for throwing. The farce that was round 10 continued, as the timekeeper forgot to ring the bell to end the round on time. It ended up going 5:10 when finally a local official just told the timekeeper to ring the bell when it was clear the round had gone way too long. The crowd figured it out after the round had gone less then 30 seconds too long, but there might be lead in the drinking water they give to the officials in Montreal that leads to stuff like this happening far too often. In another bit of good fortune, nothing major happened in the extra 2:10 of the round. Had anything happened in the overtime portion of the round, the match would have been ruled a no-contest. A full recap of this debacle can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/5/27/recap-of-juan-urango-vs-herman-ngoudjo.html Urango is making his first defense of this title.

 

Urango began his profession boxing at 21-years old with a round 2 knockout victory over Efrain Sotomayor on April 30, 2002 in Monteria, Colombia.

 

The native Colombian is seeming to be part of a statistic in boxing of Colombian's that show amazing power in their homeland, but average power outside of it. In Colombia, Urango was 8-0 with all 8 wins coming by knockout in under 3 rounds. Outside of Colombia, Urango has 8 knockouts in 16 matches, which is nothing special. Urango throws wild looping punches rather then more technical straight punches. That type of striking can score knockouts against lower level opponents and some good opponents when they occasionally land. However, top level opponents can usually see the punches coming and dodge them or counter them with straight punches. Urango has been in 4 major world title matches and has not knocked out any of his opponents in those matches.

 

Urango's last match was a 12-round unanimous decision loss challenging Andre Berto for the American's 147-pound title on May 30 at the same building that is housing this event. The native Colombian was confounded by Berto's amazing speed for the entire match and never competitive in the match. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/8/28/recap-of-andre-berto-vs-juan-urango.html

 

Urango is The Ring's number 7 contender at 140 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Manny Pacquiao.

 

Bailey began his professional boxing career at 21-years old, on April 6, 1996 with a round 1 technical knockout over Fernando Garcia in Miami, Florida. The Miami resident would go on to knockout his first 21 opponents with all of those knockouts coming before the end of round 9.

 

Bailey has a knack of being in memorable matches. Bailey lost to Herman Ngoudjo, who Urango beat in blowout fashion to win this title in an unforgettable match via split decision on June 8, 2007 at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Quebec. The ring was set up in the middle of an outdoor tennis stadium and in the middle of this match, a thunderstorm erupted. At that point, many of the crowd headed for the exits. However, a large part of the tremendous Montreal crowd started heading towards the ring to try and stand in the shelter of the tarp covering the ring. The tarp did not provide enough cover for all of the crowd who chose to remain. Therefore, they began to sing the "Ole" song as they were doused with heavy rain. Meanwhile, the Bailey and Ngoudjo responded to the boisterous crowd, by having a thrilling all action slugfest. Then with only a few rounds to go, the storm knocked out the lights in the area while the boxers were getting their one minute rest between rounds. With the power gone, the crowd continued to sing as the boxers sat on their stools. Then when after about a minute the power came back, the crowd roared and the boxers immediately charged out of their corners to the middle of the ring to resume boxing without the referee's signal. This was similar to Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima, where the 2 wrestlers ran out to jump start the match and the referee's only choice was to call for the bell.

 

Bailey's last match, was of course, a memorable knockout of Francisco Figueroa at 1:46 of round 4 on April 3, 2009 at the Pepsi Pavilion in Memphis, Tennessee. Bailey landed a hard right hand that knocked Figueroa completely unconscious. It was such a spectacular knockout that would be the likely knockout of the year for 2009, except for Pacquiao's round 2 knockout of Ricky Hatton that seems to be the lock to win that award.

 

Bailey is unranked by The Ring, and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 15 boxer in the world at 140 pounds.

 

At 28-years old, Urango is 6 years younger then the 34-year-old Bailey. Bailey has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Urango stands 5' 8" tall. According to boxrec.com, Urango has the reach advantage with a 71" wingspan, compared to Bailey's 70" wingspan. Neither boxers unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, Urango failed to make weight for this match on his initial attempt coming in at 140.5 pounds. He was then given 2 hours to sweat off the extra weight and came in on weight. That means he is likely to be the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers are naturally right-handed, but only Bailey will employ the orthodox stance. Urango will box out of the southpaw stance.

 

The hometowns of the judges keeping official score of this contest from ringside are not announced. The referee is Tommy Kimmons. Kimmons is the top referee in Florida and usually gets assigned to all of the major matches in the state.

 

With 1:23 to go in round 1, Bailey goes down to the mat. The referee rules it is a slip. That appears to have been an excellent call by the referee. After repeated viewings on slow motion replay, it appears the boxers torsos touched when Urango was coming forward throwing a combination. That was what caused Bailey to go down, not the combination by Urango. The referee was in perfect position to see the contact and made the correct call. Superb job on Kimmons part. With 34 seconds to go still in round 1, Urango goes charging in wildly and falls over Bailey's hip to the canvas. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is restarted with 28 seconds to go in the round. Bailey lands several good right hands to win round 1, 10-9. Urango wins a somewhat sloppy round 2, 10-9. Round 3 is contested at short range allowing the champion to win it, 10-9, and Urango leads after 3 rounds on my scorecard, 29-28. Atlas scored round 2 for Urango, 10-9. ESPN's color commentator scored rounds 1 and 3 for Bailey, 10-9, and has the challenger ahead 3 rounds, 29-28.

 

Urango wins round 4 easily by walking forward and landing power punches with impunity, 10-9. Atlas scores round 4 for Urango, 10-9. Bailey is able to land several hard right hands on the outside to win round 5, 10-9. Round 5 is even on Atlas' scorecard, 10-10. With 2:02 to go in round 6, Urango is hit with a short right hand, and half a second later the champion is laying bloody on the canvas. Urango is cut badly below his right eye, which is a safe place to be cut. It should not play a factor in this match no matter how much longer it goes, which looks to be about 10 seconds. Urango barely beat the count. The champion made his feet at the count of 9. The referee is allowing Urango to continue with 1:44 to go in the round. With 1:35 to go still in round 6, a left hook causes Bailey to take a step back and trip over Urango lead left leg. On this trip, Bailey's left glove touched the canvas. That could be ruled a knockdown, it should at least require a break to dust off Bailey's gloves. However, the referee does not call anything and allows the action to continue without any pause. The knockdown wins round 6 for Bailey, 10-8, and that pulls Bailey ahead on my scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-56. Atlas scores round 6 for Bailey, 10-8, and has the challenger ahead after 6 rounds, 58-56.

 

Urango's constant pressure wins round 7, 10-9. At the end of round 7, Urango's right eye is beginning to swell shut from the swelling around the cut under his eye. Bailey wins round 7 on Atlas' scorecard, 10-9. Bailey lands more clean right hands to take round 8, 10-9. Atlas scores round 8 for Urango, 10-9. A close-up to start round 9 reveals that Bailey's left eye is in bad shape and swelling shut. A left hook drops Bailey with 2:28 to go in round 9. Bailey is in real bad shape. The referee is standing over Bailey applying his count and it appears the challenger will not be getting up from that punch. Bailey barely beats the count standing at 9 7/8 or 9 15/16. (I hate fractions.) The referee is going to allow Bailey to continue with still 2:13 to go in round 9. The challenger's chances of making it out of this round appear slim. A right hook sends Bailey staggering to the canvas with still 1:49 to go in round 9. The referee is going to apply a count. Bailey is up at the count of 7, but looks completely out of it. Bailey's corner should throw in the towel here to protect their charge. Bailey is being allowed to continue with still 1:36 to go in the round. The 3 knockdown rule is not in effect. By almost exclusively holding for the last 1:36, Bailey is able to finish round 9 standing. The 2 knockdowns give Urango round 9 huge, 10-7, and that pulls him ahead on my scorecard, 85-83. Urango only wins round 9 on Atlas' scorecard, 10-8, and that makes the match even on the Atlas scorecard after 9 rounds, 85-85.

 

Bailey is still hurt when he comes out to start round 10 and looking to buy more time to recover. There is a cut around the left eye of Bailey with over 2:00 to go in round 10. A right hand to the body drops Bailey to a knee with 49 seconds to go in round 10. The challenger might be smart to stay down even if he can get up at this point. Bailey stood at 8, but has the look of a defeated boxer. The challenger appears to want out and Bailey's corner should oblige him by throwing in the towel. Bailey is allowed to continue with still 37 seconds to go in round 10. Bailey should be able to last out the round if he really wants to finish the round. A beleaguered Bailey makes it out of round 10 by running and holding. Urango takes round 10 on Atlas and my scorecard, 10-8. Less then 10 seconds into round 11, Urango pushes down on the back of Bailey when the challenger ducks down, and the American drops to the canvas. The referee rules it an obvious slip, but has to work to get Bailey off the canvas in a timely manner. Bailey's corner really needs to stop this match or their charge could be seriously hurt. In rounds 9 and 10, Urango had a 53-to-10 advantage on total punches landed. The action is not resumed until there is 2:44 to go in round 11, because Bailey is past the point of exhaustion. With 1:28 still to go in round 11, Bailey again drops to a knee in a clinch. Again, the referee rules it a slip and has to cajole Bailey to get off the canvas. The action is resumed with 1:20 to go in the round. This match should really be stopped by Bailey's corner. The referee will clearly stop it at the next opportunity, but in this situation it is the responsibility of Bailey's corner to throw in the towel to protect their boxer. With 1:10 to go in round 11, Bailey's corner is doing the right thing and throwing in the towel. Excellent job by the corner to stop the match. This is causing Bailey to collapse in tears in his corner, but hopefully the boxer understands that this was the only thing his corner could do.

 

The official outcome courtesy of Bob Alexander is that at: 1:51 of round 11 the winner by technical knockout and still IBF Junior Welterweight Champion of the World, Juan "Iron Twin" Urango. The win moves Urango to 22-2-1 with now 17 wins coming by way of knockout.

 

Urango said in his post match interview that he wants Timothy Bradley.

 

Urango was entertaining in this match. He is very limited, but when matched well can look like an elite boxer. Urango looked completely different tonight then the boxer that was dominated by Berto in his last match or Hatton in his other loss. The champion does not deal well with boxers that possess tremendous speed or that do not break down with his constant pressure. Bradley is an elite boxer who would probably make Urango look very bad. It might be an entertaining match and Showtime would be glad to televise it. It could also be a terrible one-sided match that Bradley could dominate on the outside with his speed. However, it would not be the best strategic match for Urango, because he would probably lose, badly. If Juan Diaz is going to stay at 140 pounds, that could be a great match-up for Urango. Urango has a title, which is something Diaz wants and the 2 could produce a match of the year candidate for HBO with how well their styles seem to mesh.

 

Bailey is good in a division filled with lots of great young boxers. As noted in the preview, he seems to always be in exciting matches. The American boxed well enough to beat most boxers tonight, but not the boxers in the top 10. He can probably be around the periphery and challenge for the numerous titles floating around in the weight class for the next several years. A match between Bailey and someone like Kendall Holt or Nate Campbell in another title eliminator for some belt makes sense. He should be a mainstay of ESPN cards for years. That is assuming he does not take too many more beatings like he did tonight.
 

 

 

The first match on this show was average. The second match was great at times and something worth looking to catch on a replay. As a negative, ESPN tried a new format for their season finale, which was not the best. Also, they had their studio analyst, Brian Kenny, and play-by-play man, Joe Tessitore, out for this show. The inexperienced fill-ins somewhat detracted from the show.

 

 

 

News and Notes: First here is an update on everything Floyd Mayweather, Jr. The details of the shooting at the skating rink are that a known associate of Mayweather's who goes by the name "O.C." is the primary suspect. The police say O.C. fired several shots into a vehicle that was occupied by a driver and passenger as it drove away from the Crystal Palace Skating Center, which is a roller and ice skating complex, last Sunday. On Monday, the day Mayweather hosted Raw, police searched Mayweather's house and Rolls-Royce. The police say the Rolls-Royce was involved in the shooting. However, Mayweather is not a suspect and is reportedly cooperating with police. Still, on Monday the police seized several items from Mayweather's house. The police took: 2 handguns (one with a loaded cartridge in the chamber), 3 magazines loaded with live ammunition, a holster, 2 bulletproof vests, 2 cell phones, a photo album, 2 plastic drinking bottles and 2 cars. Both of the guns were registered to Mayweather's security guards. Apparently, one of the people shot at told police Mayweather threatened him 10 minutes before O.C. shot up his car. (In fairness, that does not mean much, because Mayweather threatens a lot of people.) Apparently, Quincy Williams, one of the people who was shot at, sent Mayweather a text message a month earlier saying he hoped Mayweather lost his pay-per-view match to Juan Manuel Marquez. Mayweather along with 2 other men, one of which was O.C., then confronted Williams on Sunday. Since that hardly sounds like a reason to order a shooting, Mayweather looks good here. However, things go badly when it comes to the search warrant where Mayweather strays into Kurt Angle territory. The boxer told police he did not know an O.C. To reiterate, O.C. is a known associate of Mayweather. Mayweather said he did drive the car in question to rink, but was unaware of a shooting. The people who were shot at report Mayweather was standing next to O.C. when he opened fire. Mayweather's car was then seen speeding away from the scene of the shooting.

 

Now to actually talk Mayweather and boxing. It has been announced that the September 19 PPV featuring Mayweather vs. Marquez will be shown in 170 movie theatres nation wide. The entrance fee to see the PPV in theatres will be about $15. In addition, Golden Boy Promotions will be running 30 second ads for the PPV before movies on 1,500 screens nationwide. Also, in exciting news Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 premieres on Saturday and will have numerous replays throughout the week. This is guaranteed to be great and is easily the best show on television.

 

In more boxing related violence, Ahmet Oner, the head of German promoter Arena Box, was shot on Tuesday. Two gunmen fired on Oner, 3-times. Oner was struck once in the left leg and is reportedly okay after having surgery to remove the bullet. After the attack Oner said, "I have been attacked before, but this was the first time somebody cowardly ambushed me in the dark to shoot me." Suddenly, the vicious court cases boxing promoters in the United States frequently get involved in sound really nice.

 

There is more news on the Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto PPV. To begin, ticket sales, unlike for the Mayweather-Marquez PPV have been excellent. After the first week there were less then 1,000 tickets remaining and the 16,200 seat MGM Grand is expected to be sold out on November 14. Also, the WBC has decided that this match will also be for one of its new "Diamond Championships". The WBC has even said they are not going to charge a sanctioning fee for this title match. However, they will charge a sanctioning fee for all future matches involving the Diamond Championship, which is not tied to a weight class. That means Pacquiao can take it back to 140 pounds with him and defend it there or Cotto can defend it at 147 pounds. It is a pretty good scam, since the belt can almost never be vacated and an endless number of these "Diamond Championships" can be created.

 

The top ranked 175-pounder in the world, Bernard Hopkins is almost ready to announce his next match. Hopkins will be inactive for all of 2009, but may return to action against The Ring's 200-pound Champion Tomasz Adamek on January 30 on HBO. The only thing holding up that deal is that HBO does not know what its budget is for 2010.

 

Shane Mosley and Golden Boy Promotions have the MGM Grand on hold for him to return the ring on December 5. Mosley expects to face either Andre Berto or Joshua Clottey that night. There is currently a money hold up keeping the Berto match from happening. If HBO does not reschedule Kelly Pavlik vs. Paul Williams for this year, they will have the money to make Mosley-Berto. Of course, Berto rejected HBO's offer to do a 147-pound title unification match with Isaac Hlatshwayo saying HBO did not offer him enough money for that match. Berto is going to have to face one of the 2 by the end of the year or not box at all, because HBO has almost used up all of its budget and available television dates for 2009. Berto will get much more to face Mosley, even if he does not like the terms.

 

Finally, Don Frye told a story on Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave and Bryan on Wednesday about Senator McCain getting MMA banned in Puerto Rico, because the Senator called it "human cock fighting" and since cock fighting is banned. That is actually funny. Cock fighting (and to a large extent dog fighting) in the United States is regulated by the state governments. Cock fighting is only banned in 49 states, Louisiana is totally cool with it. Cock fighting is also legal in the United States territory of Puerto Rico.

 

 

 

The next recap will cover the Showtime event on September 12 featuring Andre Ward vs. Shelby Pudwill live and Mikkel Kessler defending his title against Gusmyl Perdomo on same-day tape delay as part of the same broadcast.