Fit Antonio Margarito for an eye patch now. Avenging his loss from their first fight, Miguel Cotto’s nine-round pummeling of Margarito resulted in a TKO to retain his WBA Super Welterweight title. Cotto (37-2-0) tactically took out his opponent in one-sided dominance with all three judges scoring in his favor 89-82. Read the rest of this entry »

The crowd booed the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Saturday night once the judges decision to award WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao the victory over Juan Manuel Marquez aired over the speakers. The match could have easily went the Mexican’s way but with the card reading (116-112),(115-113), (114-114), against him, Marquez again goes winless against Pacquiao. Read the rest of this entry »

Smokin’ Joe Frazier passed away last night after a battle with liver cancer at the age of 67. He was a hall of fame boxing champion most famous for his rivalry with Muhammad Ali culminating in a trilogy of classic fights. He had a 32-4-1 record, won a gold medal for the United States Olympic team and a 1990 charter inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Read the rest of this entry »

Floyd Mayweather Jr. won last night’s prizefight against defending champion Victor Ortiz with a fourth round KO at the 2:59 mark. Floyd Mayweather’s the new World Boxing Council welterweight champion. The summation reads plain yet the fight was anything but. Read the rest of this entry »

David told me awhile back my choices in allegiances obviously imply I tend to root for everything society hates. From the Cowboys, to Cam’ron to Cleveland’s exiled king, my loyalties are more than apparent with Floyd Mayweather falling right in line. And perhaps you’ve heard, there’s a fight this weekend involving the last name on that list. Read the rest of this entry »

On the pre-fight promos for the Manny Pacquiao versus “Sugar” Shane Mosley fight Saturday night, an immense laughter echoed in the living room as my brother and I saw the Mortal Kombat logo appear between the images of the two fighters. Practically not expecting heart-ripping fatalities or ice-freezing, one comparison of the game did occur at the MGM in Las Vegas – flawless victory. Read the rest of this entry »

EA’s Fight Night franchise has been among the top sports games since it hit the scene in ’04. Each release touted visual overhauls and other considerable improvements that come with the territory of not having annual updates. Therefore one would expect Fight Night Champion (PS3, Xbox 360) to follow tradition. Read the rest of this entry »

In an ideal world, moments, not years, would be what we remember life by. Ask a person to tell you what happened in 1984 and they’ll probably draw a blank. But I bet they recall exactly what was going on when Marvin Gaye was killed. Or when September 11th stunned the world. Or when JFK or Malcolm X or Martin Luther King were assassinated. Or when the OJ chase superseded everything on television, including a NBA Finals game. Read the rest of this entry »

EA Sports’ Fight Night series has been among the cream of the crop in their line of sports games. Word got out they released a demo for the upcoming Fight Night Champion and, naturally, I added it to my download queue. It’s easy enough to pick up and play even if you’re new to Fight Night. However, the game has some new features to its engine that makes its representation of the sweet science quite compelling. Read the rest of this entry »

If you didn’t catch the Pacquiao-Clottey fight Saturday night, don’t sweat it – you didn’t miss anything. This snoozefest of a match was further proof that the fight that should have went down has to be inked. I bet I wasn’t the only one repeating in my head, “It should have been Mayweather in there” but alas, all we got was Pac-Man again systematically tearing down another fighter for his 12th straight win. Read the rest of this entry »

On February 11, 1990, I sat in some pre-school classroom and had not the slightest clue what boxing was. Nap time and recess were the most important aspects of my then four-year-old life. That in mind, I’ve always enjoyed learning about the past. It’s entertaining, informative and nostalgic. Twenty years ago today yesterday, James “Buster” Douglas paralyzed the world with his knockout of “Iron” Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, the sport, Douglas and Tyson would never be the same.

It was the classic David versus Goliath storyline with Douglas a 42-to-1 underdog. He was only selected to fight Tyson mainly so Don King could pad his already hefty bank account. Long story short, we know how it ended. Buster was on top of the world and a source of inspiration for anyone who considered sparring with Iron Mike. His 15 minutes soon ran its course, however, and would live off a near $25M dollar pay-day from his fight with Evander Holyfield. His greatest accomplishment would also serve as his most haunting demon.

Tyson’s life has been examined countless times over the years. In retrospect, Mike was never the same after this fight. His comeback post-prison gave brief hope that he’d once again dominate the sport like he did 1980′s. It never happened. Losses both in and out of the ring have followed Mike throughout the years. He’s still one of the most intriguing figures in the world by far, but his legacy pre-February 11 is what I often choose to reflect upon.

Lastly, boxing itself hasn’t been the same either. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield are legends in their own right, but the sport has yet to find a captivating heavyweight similar to Tyson in his prime. It has already taken a backseat to the UFC/MMA phenomenon and fell flat on its face when potentially the biggest fight in recent memory collapsed.

Who knows how Tyson’s life and the landscape of the sport would have changed had Douglas been the recipient of a right hook? Questions loom and predictions come a dime a dozen, but boxing’s most infamous knockout has been one it never truly recovered from. And I’m not sure if the sport ever will.

Aside from the major outlets and boxing sites, something tells me TSS covers this Pacman/Mayweather spectacle more than the norm. For our services, I propose the entire TSS fam be awarded media passes for fight night. Imagine how that would pan out. With all that said, Teef called it. This fight is going to happen by choice or by force. After the threats of lawsuits and the cancellation of the fight altogether, cooler heads are beginning to prevail. Hopefully. Forty-five milli hanging over their heads and camps from both fighters have agreed to “talk it out” with a mediator. Read the rest of this entry »

The hell you mean possibly the biggest fight in over a quarter a century might not go down? All because Pac-Man refuses to take a drug test due to some superstitions and fear of needles? Look, for a possible $45M purse to gain from the fight, someone in his corner better tell to swallow his pride and take a damn blood test. He’s messing up the money and that’s a no-no regardless of how you came up. In case some of you are in the dark as to what I’m talking about, here’s the run down. Read the rest of this entry »

…But do it in pencil. Lightly.

God bless the dead, but if it’s one person my grandfather ALWAYS spoke highly of, it was Muhammad Ali. I’ll never forget him going on and on about how “Ali was the baddest man to ever put on boxing gloves. You don’t know anything about that.” I was cheated out of seeing Ali in his prime and to an extent “Iron Mike.” I was only six when Tyson got caught up with the rape charge and homie was essentially never the same after that. With the possibility of seeing Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather trade jabs, I can say I will have seen arguably the most important boxing match in over 30 years, pending Floyd follows Manny leads and signs the contract. As of right now, March 13 appears to be the day of reckoning and potentially one hell of a payday for both fighters.

The camps agreed to a 50-50 split of the money, which could be gargantuan. Many experts expect the fight to eclipse the all-time pay-per-view record for sales, which is the 2.44 million buys generated by Mayweather’s 2007 victory against Oscar De La Hoya.

Both fighters will wear 8-ounce gloves but each fighter will be allowed to select the brand of gloves he will wear for the fight.

A boxing match for the ages during March Madness? Yes, please. As a fan of the sport, this is huge. Imagine what a Kobe/LeBron Finals would have been like last year and multiply it by 50. Boxing NEEDS this to go down. With no heavyweights worth mentioning, these two names are carrying the sport and if this fight goes the distance and has a controversial ending, we could be looking at the first of two (possibly three) fights. The only question now is a venue to hold all the egos (mainly Floyd’s).

The site of the bout has not been finalized. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has expressed interest in bringing the fight to his new stadium as have representatives from the Superdome in New Orleans. Also in the mix is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, which has hosted several Pacquiao and Mayweather bouts.

So, TSS and the world, start your wagers now. While Mayweather has yet to sign the contract, all signs point towards he will. Pending he does, I’m letting it be known now. I’m putting the house on Mayweather. Give me all the reasons you want as to why Manny will beat him, and I’m pretty sure the previous 40 guys who stepped to Floyd had the same hopes and dreams. I’ve got more reasons, but I refuse to turn this into a dissertation. Leave that for the comments. No word yet if Rick Ross will be ringside though.

[Via]

Miguel Cotto got beat bad. And besides the first three rounds, he had nothing against Manny Pacquiao. Previous wins by “Pac Man” against Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton were lopsided in his favor but beating a legitimate opponent such as Cotto establishes his status amongst the best of all time. Winning the WBO welterweight title, Pacquiao became the first fighter to win seven titles in an unprecedented seven different weight classes.

Bert Sugar’s Post-fight Commentary

But in all honesty, this story has already gone stale. Actually once the dust settled on this bout, all that came to mind was one name.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Obviously, Pac Man had to beat Cotto for this to happen, even though this wasn’t what the people wanted. It was just a rung on the ladder to the big one. “Money” Mayweather’s win over Miguel Marquez was a warmup to the inevitable. Paquiao proved his fight with Cotto to be the same.

Those aware of Floyd Mayweather know the boy loves to talk smack. He has already been quoted, calling Pacquiao “one dimensional” and admits that if he gets defeated it’s what the people want. You’ve got to give Mayweather props for talking shit and backing it up. But Pacquiao is as fast if not faster. Manny can take a punch from bigger fighters like Cotto and is nice with both hands.

The best part about a dude who loves to talk shit is when someone even better along makes him shut his bitch ass up. Manny Pacquiao may be that guy and for me I can’t wait for that day to happen.