chop
11-06-2006, 11:30 AM
By Sammy Rozenberg
The stars came out in full force to the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, to see "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather (36-0, 24 KOs) show why he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the business. Among them were Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Pete Rose, Charles Barkley and many others.
Mayweather as promised, dominated WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir with his advantage of speed and quick reflexes. The fight was more of a sparring session, as Baldomir (43-10-6, 13 KOs) was only able to land 12% of his punches, and was barely able to land a single punch in any of the twelve rounds.
The fight was a bigger shutout than any of the experts had predicted. The scores were 120-108, 120-108 and 118-110. Mayweather captures the WBC welterweight title with the win.
The sky is the limit for Floyd Mayweather, it all depends on which path he plans to take. Mayweather has an HBO pay-per-view date penciled in for February, and Shane Mosley may be the opponent of choice, or is he?
The dream for Mayweather would be a May fight with Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya has long said that the final bout of his career would be held in May, and Floyd Mayweather would be the opponent of choice. But, De La Hoya has said that Mayweather must stay undefeated in order for the fight to take place.
De La Hoya has also mentioned a rematch with Felix Trinidad as his final bout. Trinidad defeated him by decision in 1999 in a fight where most experts felt De La Hoya clearly won the fight. The Mayweather camp thinks that De La Hoya is playing mind games with them and has no intention of facing Trinidad.
The fight with Mayweather will be much easier to make, Trinidad is requesting a lot more money in order to come out of retirement to make the fight.
It's quite a predicament for Golden Boy Promotions, two of the partners, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley - both want Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Mayweather wants them both, but De La Hoya by far brings the most money to the table.
There was some talk of facing Cory Spinks, the IBF junior middleweight champion. According to Spinks, there was a verbal agreement to face Mayweather and at the last minute - Mayweather cut a deal to face Carlos Baldomir. Leonard Ellerbe, the advisor and assistant trainer of Mayweather, had said that Spinks was an option for the February date.
Spinks does not have a big punch or a big chin. What Spinks does have in his arsenal is a great boxing background, very ring good skills and slick movement. He could present some big problems if he is on top of his game, or if Mayweather is unprepared.
With a bout against De La Hoya hanging over his head, it is doubtful that Mayweather takes a big chance by facing someone like Antonio Margarito, Kermit Cintron or Paul Williams.
A bout against Miguel Cotto or Ricky Hatton is more feasible, as their defensive skills are not the best, and theirs styles match up to the style of Mayweather. A fight against either would equate to dollar signs, if neither man loses their next fight. Cotto faces a tough test against undefeated Carlos Quintana on December 2, for the WBA welterweight title, and Hatton moves back down to 140-pounds to face IBF junior welterweight champ Juan Urango.
On the undercard:
In an upset, unheralded Orlando Salido (28-9-2, 18 KOs) dominated Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (19-2-1, 12 KOs) to win the IBF featherweight title. The scores were 115-113, 117-111 and 118-110.
Undefeated welterweight Paul "The Punisher" Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) dished out a vicious beating to late replacement Santos Pakau (27-4-1, 10 KOs), stopping him in the sixth round.
Pakau went down in each of the first two rounds, and continued to eat punches until his face was a bloody, swollen mess by the sixth round. Joe Cortez stopped the fight as Pakau was being beaten all over the ring and returning very little back in return.
The original opponent, Mauro Lucero, flew in to Las Vegas weighing 174-pounds, which is 27-pounds over the welterweight limit of 147-pounds. Promoter Dan Goossen was forced to fly in Pakau at the last minute.
In a minor upset, heavyweight Chris Arreola (17-0, 15 KOs) handed Damian "Bolo" Wills (21-0-1, 15 KOs) the first loss of his career by way of a seventh round stoppage. After a good stars by Wills in the first round, Arreloa came back in round two with a barrage of power shots that busted Wills up. Wills was able to get himself back into the fight, but was unable to maintain the pace. Wills began to bust Wills up with more punches in round seven, and continued to land big shots until the referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight. Wills is co-managed by actor Denzel Washington, who was watching at ringside.
The stars came out in full force to the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, to see "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather (36-0, 24 KOs) show why he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the business. Among them were Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Pete Rose, Charles Barkley and many others.
Mayweather as promised, dominated WBC welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir with his advantage of speed and quick reflexes. The fight was more of a sparring session, as Baldomir (43-10-6, 13 KOs) was only able to land 12% of his punches, and was barely able to land a single punch in any of the twelve rounds.
The fight was a bigger shutout than any of the experts had predicted. The scores were 120-108, 120-108 and 118-110. Mayweather captures the WBC welterweight title with the win.
The sky is the limit for Floyd Mayweather, it all depends on which path he plans to take. Mayweather has an HBO pay-per-view date penciled in for February, and Shane Mosley may be the opponent of choice, or is he?
The dream for Mayweather would be a May fight with Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya has long said that the final bout of his career would be held in May, and Floyd Mayweather would be the opponent of choice. But, De La Hoya has said that Mayweather must stay undefeated in order for the fight to take place.
De La Hoya has also mentioned a rematch with Felix Trinidad as his final bout. Trinidad defeated him by decision in 1999 in a fight where most experts felt De La Hoya clearly won the fight. The Mayweather camp thinks that De La Hoya is playing mind games with them and has no intention of facing Trinidad.
The fight with Mayweather will be much easier to make, Trinidad is requesting a lot more money in order to come out of retirement to make the fight.
It's quite a predicament for Golden Boy Promotions, two of the partners, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley - both want Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Mayweather wants them both, but De La Hoya by far brings the most money to the table.
There was some talk of facing Cory Spinks, the IBF junior middleweight champion. According to Spinks, there was a verbal agreement to face Mayweather and at the last minute - Mayweather cut a deal to face Carlos Baldomir. Leonard Ellerbe, the advisor and assistant trainer of Mayweather, had said that Spinks was an option for the February date.
Spinks does not have a big punch or a big chin. What Spinks does have in his arsenal is a great boxing background, very ring good skills and slick movement. He could present some big problems if he is on top of his game, or if Mayweather is unprepared.
With a bout against De La Hoya hanging over his head, it is doubtful that Mayweather takes a big chance by facing someone like Antonio Margarito, Kermit Cintron or Paul Williams.
A bout against Miguel Cotto or Ricky Hatton is more feasible, as their defensive skills are not the best, and theirs styles match up to the style of Mayweather. A fight against either would equate to dollar signs, if neither man loses their next fight. Cotto faces a tough test against undefeated Carlos Quintana on December 2, for the WBA welterweight title, and Hatton moves back down to 140-pounds to face IBF junior welterweight champ Juan Urango.
On the undercard:
In an upset, unheralded Orlando Salido (28-9-2, 18 KOs) dominated Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (19-2-1, 12 KOs) to win the IBF featherweight title. The scores were 115-113, 117-111 and 118-110.
Undefeated welterweight Paul "The Punisher" Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) dished out a vicious beating to late replacement Santos Pakau (27-4-1, 10 KOs), stopping him in the sixth round.
Pakau went down in each of the first two rounds, and continued to eat punches until his face was a bloody, swollen mess by the sixth round. Joe Cortez stopped the fight as Pakau was being beaten all over the ring and returning very little back in return.
The original opponent, Mauro Lucero, flew in to Las Vegas weighing 174-pounds, which is 27-pounds over the welterweight limit of 147-pounds. Promoter Dan Goossen was forced to fly in Pakau at the last minute.
In a minor upset, heavyweight Chris Arreola (17-0, 15 KOs) handed Damian "Bolo" Wills (21-0-1, 15 KOs) the first loss of his career by way of a seventh round stoppage. After a good stars by Wills in the first round, Arreloa came back in round two with a barrage of power shots that busted Wills up. Wills was able to get himself back into the fight, but was unable to maintain the pace. Wills began to bust Wills up with more punches in round seven, and continued to land big shots until the referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight. Wills is co-managed by actor Denzel Washington, who was watching at ringside.