New world champion Amir Khan aiming to become a great

Following an evening in Manchester informing Andreas Kotelnik over 12 blistering rounds that he was no longer good enough to wrap the World Boxing Association light-welterweight belt around his waist, Amir Khan yesterday said that he is now ready.

Ready for the United States, ready for more world title belts, ready to fight the best. Freddie Roach, the genius US trainer who masterminded the dismantling of Kotelnik, agrees. So, too, Roach's stellar charge, Manny Pacquiao, the world's best pound-for-pound man. Both believe the boy from Bolton, who is still 22, can become a great.

All this depends, of course, on Khan's desire. But the manner of his triumph — 120–108, 118–111, 118–111 was the emphatic verdict — and his measured demeanour later suggested an understanding that something special can be attained. "I've won the world title — what I've dreamt of since the age of eight," he said. "I've achieved my goals and there are new ones to be set. There are some big fights out there and I want to go and fight in America now."

Next, Khan explained the impact of training alongside Pacquiao at Roach's LA Wild Card Gym in the 10 months since the crushing loss to Breidis Prescott in 54 seconds at this same MEN Arena. "Manny was a big inspiration. I spent time with him, training with him. He was confident I was going to win. He said speed would be the key — hit and move, and I did. I used to walk in the gym and see posters of him wearing his belts and think 'I wish I could achieve what he has.' Now I have my first. There's still room for improvement, every fight I am going to get better. What Manny has achieved I want to achieve."

What Pacquiao has achieved is world titles in five classes, from flyweight to light-welterweight plus the pound-for-pound title, which Khan also wants.

Khan began this holy grail by stepping up a division for only a second outing at light-welterweight to dispatch Kotelnik. If he keeps on hearing what Roach has to say, then multi-weight championships and boxing immortality may become reality. "I can get a lot more out of him," Roach said of his 25th world champion. I compare him so much to Pacquiao because they have similar styles – speed and power. It took me eight years to get Pacquiao where he is. We've only just started working together. Amir has put himself in the spot where everybody is after him because he's a world champion. Every guy wants to knock him out and we welcome the challenge. He picks things up very quickly."

Perhaps this last assessment is what augurs best for Khan. Following the Prescott reverse he proved three fights later against Kotelnik how fast he is learning. He fought like a veteran, still taking the odd clumsy hit, but understanding that he has to speed away from trouble to leave the opponent gasping.

"Manny is dead nice, always giving me compliments, saying I'm the next champion and when he retires I can take his place," Khan said of his hopes of becoming the Filipino's successor. The pound-for-pound title usually always involves lighting up the boxing theatres of the US, where he is yet to make his debut.

"That is the first of many belts," the WBA champion said. "When you win things they come to you. I want to fight guys like [Juan Manuel] Marquez," he added of the Mexican three-weight champion, who takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr in September at a catchweight 144lb.

There are prospective fights everywhere in boxing's strongest clutch of divisions including — down the road maybe — what would be a fascinating match-up against his pal Pacquiao.

More immediately there is the bout which makes commercial sense but probably none at all to Ricky Hatton's family, or anyone who cares for his health. Hatton is still deciding whether to box again following his two-round thrashing by Pacquiao in Las Vegas during May.

Khan and Roach would both prefer Hatton to keep the gloves unlaced. But the Boltonian was, again, noticeably pragmatic. "We're good friends and stuff, but business is business sometimes. It is a huge fight the British public want to see, so we'll see what happens."

Khan's next moves also demand to be watched.

Source

Bully for Pacquiao for not bullying Cotto

At the end of the day, Manny Pacquiao was true to himself, to his own nature.

He did not “wuss out” on the so called weight issue.

Reliable reporter Nick Giongco writes from the Philippines that Pacman authorized agent Michael Koncz to reaffirm that he will fight Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at an agreed to weight of 145 pounds ot two under the welterweight limit.

Surely the Puerto Rican veteran will baloon in weight after the weigh in but how will that help him? If Cotto adds 12 pounds and Manny puts on 10 after the weigh in, what's the big deal?

Cotto has been skidding noticeably since he took a beating from Antonio Margarito and he needs speed, not bulk, to contend with Megamanny. He beat Joshua Clottey but was hardly dazzling especially in the closing rounds.

Simply put, it's the right time for Pacquiao to test Cotto.

Much was made of this small controversy, a molehill was turned into a mountain. It was always a trifling thing.

But I was right on this and my fellow Examiners dSource Guillermo and Matt Stolow were also correct in criticizing the demand for Cotto to make 143 pounds.

Such a demand goes totally against what people, at their core, love about Pacman, at his core, the idea that it's anybody, anywhere, anytime.

Pacquiao, in the early prime of his career, never needed the 143 pound crutch.

Maybe the whole thing was a Pacman whim or a figment of lawyer Jeng Gacal’s imagination.

It matters not now because Pacman is Johnny Ringo, the gentleman outlaw and the fastest gun in the ring unless Pretty Boy Floyd can prove otherwise.

Johnny Ringo wouldn’t ask for a two pound weight concession.

Bully for Manny for not being a bully on this issue.

If you’d like to know more about bad man Ringo, try www.johnnyringo.com.

Source

Miguel Cotto hopes to win the lottery against Pacquiao

He is a man on a mission. He is in search of a new promoter , but knows that the outcome of his next fight will determine how much interest he garners. To put just a little more pressure on the man is the fact that his next fight is against boxing's superman , Manny Pacquiao.

Boxing is a tough sport , but you won't find too many fighters tougher than Miguel Cotto. He was able to survive a tough fight against venerable Joshua Clottey in June. His resume was already filled with world class boxers such as Mosley , Judah and Margarito. But every fight against a top ranked fighter seems to become a slugfest for Cotto. He ends up cut and the fights end up being close. But that might be the situation he needs. Professional football and baseball teams are known for their ability to win close games. That could become Cotto's modus operandi.

The big money will surely be bet on Pacquiao. But suppose the fight befuddles the critics and is close after nine rounds. Will Miguel be able to dig deep into his iron will and pull off one of boxing's biggest upsets? If he does then it couldn't happen to a nicer man.

A loss wouldn't end his boxing career. But a blowout could permanently hurt him as a box office draw.

Promoters would also be slow to sign him if Pacquiao does the expected and ends Cotto's night early. But there is always that chance. Cotto is a powerful welterweight and has shown a ton of resilience. It wouldn't be the biggest upset of all-time , but it would rank way up there.

So Miguel is filling out his sheet and hoping that the lottery machine kicks out his numbers on November 14. All he can do is prepare and hope for the best. Who knows , come the morning of November 15 the world may awaken to find that the newest member of the mega millionaire club is named Miguel Cotto.

Source

Less Sugar: Shane Mosley Says He's Willing To Drop Weight To Fight Pacquaio

Jay Gilmore - AHN Sports Contributor

Shane Mosley is willing to fight Manny Pacquiao at 140 pounds. He says he can do that in the fall and fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. as a welterweight.

Mosley currently fights in the welterweight division at 147 pounds. He wants to fight Pacquiao at Pacquiao's weight to lay claim to the pound-for-pound tag.

The 37-year-old fighter wants the fight for his legacy.

There has been a stalemate in negotiations with Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto for a November fight.  Mosley made the offer to land a bigger payday than an alternate bout with Andre Berto.

Promoter Bob Arum is scheduled to provide an update to the complicated dealings Monday in Los Angeles.

Mosley wants the fight so bad he's willing to take a 60/40 revenue split.

Source

Pacquiao like Prometheus astride 140 pounders

It’s become one of boxing’s most oft repeated clichés. I’m talking about people talking about how “loaded” the junior welterweight division, whose titular head is Manny Pacquiao, is.

On second thought, is it really?

Take a gander at the fighters Below the Pacman, particularly in the second half of my own personal rankings, and try to tell me than how powerful and talented the 140 pounders are.

Pacquaio is the master, no doubt, of all he surveys but half of his estate looks like a virtual slum.

For the other 140 pounders, it’s Pacman’s World, they just live in it. 

Source

Oscar De La Hoya speaks truth on Manny Pacquiao

Every time he fights, they have their greedy hands in Manny Pacquiao’s pocket.

Having been around the boxing block for four plus decades, I am not easily offended.

But the sheer hypocrisy of Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy henchmen badmouthing Pacman while at the same time they’re writing out bank deposit slips from revenue he produced, well that makes me sick to my stomach.

If De La Hoya, who now plays a silly game “backing” Juan Manuel Marquez against another GBP fighter named Floyd Mayweather Jr., wanted to speak from his heart here’s what he would say:

“Hey, this guy beat my ass and beat it bad. I was mistaken, thinking I could crunch this mere midget from the Philippines. I thought the fight would be a walkover at best, a bout where I had to work up a sweat like against Stevie Forbes (another junior welterweight) at the worst.

"I figured Manny, he was just a well paying pit stop en route to a rematch of my Businessman's Special II against Li'l Floyd. How could some dude who started as a flyweight beat me?

“But, hell no, Freddie Roach had a perfect fight plan and Manny executed it perfectly. This cat shocked me in ways that Mayweather never did. This cat sent me spinning into retirement.”

Then, after he caught his breath, De La Hoya would throw another thunderbolt of truth like this:

“You know, if Manny was an American citizen like I am, he’d be considered the greatest thing since sliced bread. He might not have my cover boy following with females but he would be idolized from coast to coast. He would be this generation’s Sugar Ray Leonard. He would have some of the outside the ring endorsements and other things that I’ve gotten along the way. Obama would have him over to the White House all the time.

“But he means as much as any fighter ever has, maybe more, to his own people. He’s got a following among the Pinoys like Julio Cesar Chavez did among the Mexicans. But I wave the flag for Marquez now and I say silly things about how Juan Ma beat Manny twice.

“I know it’s all promotional poppycock but I follow the script. I do my Manny bashing up until fight night and then me and my company we take down our Manny loot as a result of the out of court settlement with Bob Arum. Once that check goes into the bank, we rewind our house organ and start bashing Pacquiao again.

“But it’s just an act like in pro wrestling. Some people take it seriously but I say, hey loosen up, it’s just a game.

“All that horse manure I spread about Manny ‘losing” to Juan Ma, about how Mayweather is an “A
 side and all that, it’s just grist for the mill. Mayweather couldn't sell out his backyard in Vegas if he was giving away Kobe steaks, fully grilled. He is such a great draw he fought Arturo Gatti in Atlantic City and Sharmba Mitchell in that boxing hotbed of Portland, Oregon.

“What do you think I’d be saying if my Shanghai move on Pacman had worked?

“Right, then I would flip the script.

“I’m a fight promoter, people. Wake up, I don’t have one ounce of sincerity left in my bones.

“All that junk I said about Ricky Hatton beating Manny, do you think I believed it? I do know a left hook from a fish hook, you got to admit that. I knew Hatton didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell against Manny but I surely couldn’t say it, at least in public.

“I’m De La Hoya, baby, and while I used to stand for something, now the only thing I stand for is the national anthem,

“I have morphed into being what I accused Arum of being.

"I shuck, I jive, I'm like an oldtime medicine man. I got the cure for what ails you.

"Did you ever tell you what a lousy but incredibly lucky fighter Pacquaio really is?

"Hey Richard, where's my script where it says Pacman sucks and we have FILL IN NAME HERE for the guy we maintain will beat him.

"You know we save money with that, with FILL IN NAME HERE, cuts down our paper costs."

Source

Hatton Ready To Fight Again?

According to The Sun newspaper Ricky Hatton is ready to fight again.

The 30 year-old, who was cruelly and devastatingly knocked out by Manny Pacquiao back in May, has been urged to retire by close friends and family but he has not made an official announcement as yet and the word is he will fight again.

The rumour is Hatton could challenge unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Vy acheslav Senchenko, though other names are also being considered.

There is also talk of him facing Amir Khan, providing Khan comes through his challenge for the WBA junior-welterweight title at the MEN Arena on Saturday night. That match up could prove difficult to make, though, as Khan is promoted Frank Warren and Hatton, who split with Warren on bad terms, promotes his own fights.
July 15, 2009

Source