World Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez and Super Welterweight champion Sergiy Dzinzurak met the media on Wednesday to announce their world Middleweight title clash set for March 12.

Gabriel Bracero once again thrilled his large and loyal fan base and is quickly becoming “Mr Broadway Boxing” as he scored a eight round unanimous decision over veteran Chris Fernandez at BB Kings in Midtown Manhatten on Wednesday night.

Gabriel Bracero vs. Chris Fernandez — 8 Rounds, junior welterweight

In the main event at BB King’s Bar & Grill in Times Square, Brooklyn’s Gabriel Bracero outpointed Salt Lake City’s Chris Fernandez to stay undefeated.

The first two rounds of the fight served as feeling-out rounds, as both fighter’s tried to establish their jabs. Both rounds were fairly uneventful and difficult to score.

In the third round, with the pro-Bracero crowd chanting “Tito! Tito!” Bracero picked up the pace a bit, putting together more combinations, and finally connected with his best punch of the round — a straight right hand — as the bell sounded to end round three.

In the fifth round, Bracero hurt Fernandez with a right hand and had his opponent backing up against the ropes. Bracero followed up and landed a nice combination while Fernandez was still gathering himself against the ropes. To his credit, Fernandez ate Bracero’s best shots and fired back with uppercuts and short punches. Again, the best action came in the final ten seconds of the round, as the two stood in the pocket, trading punches, with Bracero seemingly getting the better of Fernandez.

Round six looked much like the first two rounds, with both fighter’s throwing mostly ineffective jabs. Bracero won the round, however, when he threw — and landed — combinations. Just like the previous rounds, Bracero broke through late, and found success just before the bell with a left to the body, right the head combination.

The seventh round proved to be close, with Bracero slightly outworking his counterpart. The eight and final round opened with the fans serenading their fighting with melodic chants of “Tiiiiito! Tiiiiito!” Fernandez pressed the action, coming forward more this round than any of the previous seven. It was mildly effective, but Bracero still got the best of Fernandez, opening up a cut over his right eye.

When it was all said and done, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Bracero. The three scores were 80-71, twice, and 79-72.

With the win, Bracero improves to 14-0, 1 KO, while the loss drops Fernandez’s record to 19-12-1, 11 KO.

In the co-feature, Light Heavyweight Mark Tucker remained undefeated with an uninspiring six round unanimous decision over Ray Smith.

Tucker came out very active as he started pumping the jab from the southpaw stance. Smith started to get through with some good shots and started smothering Tucker on the ropes in round two. Smith started landing rights and left that bounced Tucker’s head back and forth and seemed to be finding a rhythm. It was more of the same in round four but Tucker showed signs of life and began picking up the tempo in round five before the two had a action filled round six.

Tucker, 174 lbs of Eldsburg, MD won by scores of 59-55 on all cards to remain undefeated at 15-0. Smith, 176 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas deserved better and is now 9-5.

Allan Benitez vs. Joseliz Cepeda — 4 Rounds, Featherweights

Before the first bout of the evening, promoter Lou DiBella, announced to the media that Allan Benitez is a fighter to watch. Benitez has a very strong amateur pedigree, and was hoping to showcase his skills in front of a very critical New York media. His opponent was Joseliz Cepeda, who was sporting a record of two wins and one loss. The featherweight bout was scheduled for four rounds.

The bout opened with Cepeda landing a strong right to the body that knocked Benitez back, and then following up with strong overhand rights. Benitez stayed strong, working with a body attack and not allowing himself to get caught up in a sloppy fight. The second round opened up with Benitez going hard to the body and eventually bringing it upstairs. A flurry that pinned Cepeda on the ropes seemed to take some of his confidence, because Benitez was met with much less resistance afterwards.

Despite being in control, Benitez still has a very amateur style in that he does not have any jab whatsoever, and all of his punches are good scoring blows that come in flurries, but there is not punch power behind them. By the end of the third, Cepeda regained some confidence and began landing short left hooks on the inside, and finishing off the round with two strong overhand rights. The last round saw lots of action, with Benitez starting very strong, and Cepeda landing a left hook that knocked Benitez back into the ropes. In the end, the scorecards read 40-36, 39-37 and 39-37 for Cepeda. We scored it 39-37 the other way. It seems as if Cepeda’s harder punches were favored over Benitez’ higher output but soft punches. — Arben Paloka

Steven Martinez vs. Ishwar Amador — 6 rounds, Jr. Middleweights

In a junior middleweight fight scheduled for six rounds, Steven Martinez (7-0, 6 KO’s) took on Ishwar Amador (11-8, 7 KO’s). Martinez is managed by New York Giants halfback Brandon Jacobs and is coming in with lots of support from the crowd and from his handlers.

Neither fighter needed much time feeling eachother out. Martinez started the fight with a hard left hook, and then followed up with a right hand. Shortly afterwards, a right hand, left hook, right hand combination floored Amador. He beat the count, but was greeted with a vicious beating from Martinez that knocked him from one side of the ring to the other. Powerful rights and lefts were landed at will. The referee jumped in to save Amador at the 1:11 mark of the first round giving Martinez a TKO victory. — Arben Paloka

Deano Burrell vs. Sidell Blocker — 4 Rounds, Lightweights

In a major upset at the lightweight division, previously winless Sidell Blocker scored a unanimous decision victory over heavily favored, Deano Burrell.

In the opening round, Blocker was intent on making a statement. The winless fighter came out firing, swinging wildly, looking to land big punches. Burrell looked a bit flustered, and wildly returned fire, often missing. Midway through the first round, Blocker opened up a gash above Burrell’s right eye, courtesy of a left hook. With about thirty ticks remaining int he first stanza, Blocker floored Burrell with a quick right hand.

The second round picked up where the first left off. Blocker and Burrell trading ill-intentioned blows. Just when Burrell was beginning to find success, he stunned Burrell with another overhand right. A quick flurry of punches put Burrell on the canvas for the second time in two rounds. To his credit, Burrell shook off the knockdown and scored big to close out the round. As round two was coming to an end, Burrell landed a bullet-like straight left right on the chin of Blocker, who took it surprisingly well.

The third round opened up with Burrell showing desperation. He began throwing wild, looping power punches, hoping to hit a fistic home run. Blocker, who was a bit reckless for a fighter with a four-point lead through two rounds, traded with Burrell throughout the third.

When the rang for the fourth, Burrell once again pressed the action, constantly coming forward, engaging Blocker. The London-import, visibly tired, continued to through wide left. Once again, Blocker decided to play with fire and instead of tightening his defense, or riding his bike to victory, he stood and traded with the decorated amateur. In a shocking upset, Blocker was able to weather the storm and earn his first victory.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Blocker, 38-37 twice and 37-36.

With the win, Blocker improves to 1-3-1, while Burrell drops his first professional loss falling to 1-1, 1 KO. — Kyle Kinder

Ryan Kielczewski vs. Wilshaun Boxley — 6 Rounds, junior lightweights

Quincy, Massachusetts’s Ryan “The Polish Prince” Kielczewski impressed over six rounds en route to an easy unanimous decision victory over Minnesota’s Wilshaun Boxley.

From the opening round, Kielczewski established a crisp and effectively jab that created the distance necessary for him to go to work. A conscious commitment to the body from the “Polish Prince” proved to be an effective strategy to stop Boxley before he started.

Kielczewski beautifully pieced combinations together, most prominent in the middle rounds, and behind his tight defense, was rarely touched in this fight.

In the sixth round, it was clear that Kielczewski wanted to make a statement and not let this fight go to the scorecards. He came out firing, wailing heavy rights and lefts at the hard-to-miss Boxley. But no matter how hard Kielczewski’s punches landed — and they did indeed land — Boxley hung on to hear the decision read by the judges.

All three judges scored the bout a shutout for Kielczewski, 60-54.

With the win, Kielczewski improves his already unbeaten record to 9-0, 2 KOs, while Boxley drops to 6-8-1. — Kyle Kinder

Boyd Melson vs. Marquise Bruce — 4 Rounds, junior middleweights

The former Army man, Boyd Melson (1-0 1KO), hit the ring against Marquise Bruce (0-0-1) in a lightweight bout. Melson had many of his fellow West Point members in attendance for support. In his debut, Melson was very trigger happy to showcase his power in front of his friends, and ended up getting dropped. This time around, he took a very calm approach to start the fight and looked for his opponent to make a mistake. Melson, a southpaw, set the pace of the fight with his jab and straight left. Bruce tried turning the fight into a brawl, but Melson used his footwork to maintain a favorable style of fight.

In the second things got more heated as each fighter tried hurting the other. Left hooks were traded and neither fighter seemed phased. bruce landed another left hook that briefly stunned Melson, and now it was Melson on the retreat. Melson landed a right to even things out afterwards. The third round was absolutely wild as Melson decided to turn the fight into a brawl. Bruce obliged, but found himself against the ropes. Nothing serious was landed, but Melson was looking to make a statement. The pace slowed down by the middle of the round.

entering the fourth round, both fighters knew the fight was close and that the fight could possibly come down to wh owins the round. Bruce started things by landing a hard shot. Melson followed up with a higher volume of punching, but Bruce was able to land solid blows to counter. Both fighters traded hard straight punches. Melson’s nose began to bleed. The fight ended, and the scores read 38-38, 39-37, and 39-37 giving Melson a majority decision victory. — Arben Paloka.

Keisher McLeod-Wells vs. Melissa McMorrow — 6 Rounds, flyweight

In a female fight scheduled for six rounds and to be fought in the flyweight division, Keisher McLeod-Wells (3-1, 1KO) took on Melissa McMorrow (4-1-3).

McLeod-Wells started the fight utilizing her jab, while McMorrow, who was considerably shorter, tried getting beneath the jab in order to get inside. McLeod-Wells, a golden gloves champion, was too good and didn’t let down her guard. The second round saw McMorrow pick up ground as was finally able to land overhand punches. McMorrow began to work even harder as the fight progressed, and was able to turn the tables and turn the fight into more of a brawl. As the fight progressed, McLeod-Wells stayed disciplined and stuck to her game plan of keeping McMorrow at the end of her punches. In the sixth round, a stong straight right stunned McMorrow and she briefly touched the canvas. The pace of the fight remained the same afterwards, and McLeod-Wells rolled on to a unanimous decision victory with scores of 58-55, 57-56, and 57-56. — Arben Paloka

Seanie Monaghan vs. Angel Gonzalez — 4 Rounds, light heavyweight

In a bout scheduled for four rounds, Long Beach’s Seanie Monaghan squared off against Yonker’s Angel Gonzalez.

Good action was present throughout the first round, as both fighter’s were willing to engage one another. In the first half of the first round, Gonzalez outworked Monaghan, who ate a few powerful left hooks to the body and a series of uppercuts to the chin courtesy of his counterpart.

With an already marked-up face, Monaghan turned it on in the second half of the inaugural round, scoring with meaningful power punches to Gonzalez’s face. Perhaps the most significant punch landed by the fan-favorite, Monaghan, came at the rounds close, when he landed a perfectly placed straight right on the button.

In the second round, both fights came in close and never left. Both fighter’s went to work ont he inside and neither proved to be particularly elusive. Monaghan was able to land straight rights at will, while Gonzalez consistently landed his uppercuts. Midway through the first round, Monaghan cranked it up a gear again. He scored with a series of right hands, one so powerful it violently snapped Gonzalez’s head around. To his credit, Gonzalez came firing back, landing a series of punches while Monaghan was backed into the corner. Similar to the end of round one, Monaghan hurt Gonzalez with only seconds to spare in the round — this time it was a left hook to the body that had Gonzalez in pain.

Round three opened up with Monaghan once again finding a home for his straight right hand. Overall, round three belonged to Monaghan, but it didn’t come without him being on the receiving end of some punishment. With about a minute left in the round, a gassed Monaghan took a quick rest against the ropes. Gonzalez, who was equally as exhausted lost tons of steam on his punches by the third round.

When Gonzalez returned to his stool, he sat slumped over, his head resting just above his knees. The ringside doctor caught site of this, examined Gonzalez, and ordered the referee to call a halt to the bout before the fourth round began.

With the win, Monaghan improves to 5-0, 4 KOs, while Gonzalez drops to 2-5, 2 KOs. — Kyle Kinder

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

“I know he’s [Brian Vera] motivated, I know he wants this win big…[but] I’m not 100% super-motivated with [fighting] Brian Vera.”

You don’t say!

The day before stepping in the ring and dropping a split decision loss to Brian Vera, Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora spoke to Joe Tessitore on ESPN’s Heavy Hitting Boxing Podcast.

After stating that he lacked motivation, “The Latin Snake” went on to tell Tessitore, “Yet, I fear that he’s going to be stronger than me and hit harder than me. There are going to be moments in this fight when he’s actually going to connect and who knows how I’m going to react to these shots.”

So, Mora knew there were times where he would be tested. He knew Vera was a banger, and could dish out some punishment. And he knew Vera would be the crowd favorite, fighting in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. Yet even with all of this knowledge, Mora was still lacking 100% motivation.

Going into the Vera fight, Mora was fresh off a draw with future hall-of-famer Shane Mosley — a fight that headlined a PPV card.

Perhaps it was the lesser name, Vera, or the fact that this fight was on ESPN, not PPV, that Mora was unable to get fully motivated. Or maybe it was the massive drop in pay that Mora would receive from the Mosley to Vera fights. Or perhaps it was the fact that the tough Texan had just one win in his last five bouts.

Whatever his reasons may have been, I found Mora’s admission to be quite telling and extremely honest.

In my brief thirteen months covering the sweet science, I have interviewed countless fighters. In most instances, before a fight, myself or other media members will ask how training has been going. Never once have I heard that a fighter is lacking motivation.

In fact, the answer we get is usually the exact opposite. More times than not it’s, “This is one of the best training camps I’ve ever had…I’m hungry to go out and get the win…etc, etc.”

I expected to hear something similar from Mora, as well. So when he admitted that he wasn’t fully motivated, I wasn’t sure if his words were refreshing or red-flag raising.

During the course of the twelve minute interview, Mora also confirmed to Tessitore that he trained by himself for this fight, ditching trainer Dean Campos in favor of doing it the old-fashioned way.

So as I watched the first stanza unfold, I saw a Mora who was a bit surprised at how relentless Vera was. “The Latin Snake” wasn’t particularly elusive early on, and was a bit befuddled by Vera’s early early success.

As the fight progressed, it was really just more of the same. Constant, non-stop pressure from gritty hometown kid. Mora had his moments throughout the thirty minutes between the ropes — landing some nice combinations in the middle-rounds — but they were few and far between. He was consistently inconsistent throughout.

When the bout concluded, one judge scored the fight 96-94, Mora, while two saw it the other way, 96-94, Vera, awarding him a hard-earned split decision win.

In a sport where so much rides on any single fight, there never should be a lack of motivation. This wasn’t supposed to be an easy fight for Mora, and like he said, he had his fears entering the bout. Unfortunately for Mora, Vera turned Mora’s fears into a reality.

While credit must be given to Vera for pulling off what was arguably the biggest win of his career, a fully motivated Sergio Mora with Dean Campos in his corner, beats the best Brian Vera nine times out of ten.

While we don’t know how Mora will rebound after this loss, one thing we can bet on is that this was the last fight “The Latin Snake” would have struggled to find motivation.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

On Saturday night, forty-five minutes before Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander did battle in Pontiac, Michigan, I got this text from one of my few friends who enjoys boxing.

“I forgot this fight was on till a little while ago. Who do you think is going to win?”

Presumably, his second sentence was to aid him in a potential gambling proposition.

I replied, “Bradley by decision, but I think he’ll have to come from behind in the second half to win a close fight.”

I then texted my 28 year-old brother and reminded him the fight was about to start. He responded by saying, “I don’t get Showtime.”

I told him it’s on HBO, to which he said, “In that case I’m going to watch it.”

My friend is much more of a boxing guy than my brother, but brother, who is a lawyer, watches pretty much every HBO fight and is extremely opinionated about certain fighters.

In December he was literally screaming for Marcos Maidana to knock out Amir Khan in the tenth round of their Fight of the Year bout. At some point in the last year and a half, he decided he didn’t like Khan. Nor is he a fan of Floyd Mayweather, Zab Judah, or Chris Arreola, apparantly. He likes Tomasz Adamek, Paulie Malignaggi, and Manny Pacquiao — and Buboy Fernandez, though. But for whatever reason, there is no in-between with him.

There was a point in time where I was almost certain that myself and another writer-friend of mine were going to make the trip from North Jersey, drive the length of the Keystone State, through Ohio, to Pontiac. Plans fell through, and I watched it from my bedroom.

But during the interim, I talked up this fight, I was excited. I thought what most people thought: these were easily two of the best three fighters in one of boxing’s deepest divisions. The fight matters, so it had to be good.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Bradley outclassed Alexander from beginning to end. Alexander “The Not-so Great” didn’t use his height or reach to his advantage, and all but once unleashed an uppercut (the punch that so viciously knocked out Juan Urango last year). Not sure why he kept it on the shelf. Flustered, perhaps.

Bradley was constantly charging forward, throwing wild at times, but never letting Alexander fight his fight. Bart Barry summed it up well, writing about what he saw from his ringside perch, “Alexander was out of his depth, discomfited throughout. Bradley was too far away, too near, and never where he wanted him. The rounds were close, but you could argue Alexander didn’t win any of them. Then head butts took his mind away.”

So when the fight was stopped and Bradley’s hand deservedly raised, my phone buzzed again with texts.

The first came from my friend. It simply said, “Fight is over…that’s shitty.”

Then came my brother’s. After expressing his opinion that Alexander legitimately couldn’t continue, he proclaimed, “That fight was dumb.”

He concluded with, “Bad for boxing…in my opinion.”

Well, it certainly wasn’t good for boxing. But we must remember this is a fight that everyone wanted to see, and I’m glad HBO made it. I am not so glad about the concessions HBO made in order to make this fight, however.

In his latest column about Pacquiao’s move to Showtime, Thomas Hauser addressed the details of the Bradley-Alexander fight by writing, “Each fighter (in tandem with his respective promoter) has been guaranteed a second fight for a license fee of at least $3,000,000. This means that, unless their first encounter warrants a rematch, three fights involving these two boxers will command almost 25% of HBO’s license fees in 2011.”

Further, according to John Chavez of The Boxing Truth fame, Bradley-Alexander drew 1.345 million live viewers. Sad to say, but I’m almost certain that number will decrease for Alexander’s next bout. To put things in perspective, the Manfredo-Eduard fight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, drew 788,000 live viewers, and they paid a hell of a lot less than the $4 million HBO paid for this fight.

While I’m glad HBO made Bradley-Alexander happen, they grossly overpaid and made too many concessions. Then again, I would definitely not be writing any of this if it turned out to be a twelve round thriller.

That wasn’t the case, however, and head-butts and Bradley’s determination and grit earned him the title as world’s best junior welterweight.

But unfortunately for boxing fans like my brother, there’s a good chance that both Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander ended up on their ‘dislike’ list. The next time Alexander is on HBO I’ll try to get my brother to watch, but I don’t think he’ll take the bait. I have a better shot at getting him to watch Bradley fight again.

When he said, “Bad for boxing…in my opinion,” — that’s the way I feel about 25% of HBO’s 2011 license fee’s being linked to these two fighters.

We wanted the fight, we got it. Most likely, we won’t want to see Alexander against a bounce-back opponent. Too bad, we’re getting it.

We’ll just take the good with the bad I guess. That’s boxing.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder & KyleKinder1@gmail.com

It’s hard to believe that less than four years ago, Tomasz Adamek would step onto a physician’s scale the day before a fight and the balance beam would find a happy medium somewhere around 175 pounds.

Since those light heavyweight days not so long ago, where he engaged in two all-out brawls with Paul Briggs and lost a hard fought bout to Chad Dawson, Adamek has breezed through the cruiserweight division capturing the IBF and Ring Magazine championships before setting his sights on heavyweight gold.

Now, just fifteen months after bidding adieu to the cruiserweight division, the highlander from Poland will get an opportunity to become a heavyweight champion of the world.

As Dan Rafael of ESPN first reported yesterday, Adamek and his camp — Main Events & Ziggy Promotions — publicly announced that they had finalized a contract to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September, at one of two newly constructed stadiums in Poland.

The initial report stated that if both Vitali and Wladimir win their upcoming bouts, against Odlanier Solis and Derek Chisora, respectively, it will be most likely be Wlad who steps through the ropes in September to participate in one of the biggest fights in Polish boxing history.

If one brother loses, Adamek will square off against the brother who won, and if both fall, the fight with Adamek is off.

The last condition states that the Pole must win his April 16 bout in Katowice, Poland against the always dangerous TBA in order for his September title bout to take place.

While the fight will no longer be against Samuel Peter, as once reported, but it will come against “a popular opponent who is taller than me,” according to Adamek.

Back in December, at the post fight press conference for the Adamek-Vinny Maddalone fight, Duva admitted to reporters that she had been in contact with representatives of the Ukrainian champions.

While acknowledging the two sides had participated in discussions regarding a championship title bout, Duva shot down rumors that Adamek would do battle with a Klitschko in March of 2011 at Madison Square Garden, which was a popular rumor in early December. The significant of a heavyweight title fight taking place in March at Madison Square Garden is because it would mark the 40th anniversary of “The Fight of Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

While I presume there was some appeal to make that fight in late March at the Garden from a marketing standpoint, Duva ultimately stayed loyal to the Prudential Center in Newark, which has become Adamek’s home away from home.

I imagine that for the Klitschko’s there is little appeal in fighting in Newark. Therefore, the fight shifts to Poland, where new stadiums are sprouting up throughout the nation to prepare for EURO Cup 2012, when they will play co-hosts to the big soccer tournament, along with the Ukraine.

As recent as July 2009 there was buzz around the soccer world that the scheduled host counties might possibly be switched to Hungary and Germany if the building of the facilities in Poland and the Ukraine didn’t pick up the pace.

With hard work, Poland put skeptics to rest as three entirely new stadiums will be up and running by the time EURO 2012 rolls around. Two of them are in the running to host Adamek vs. Klitschko.

Both Stadion Majeski and Stadion Nawodwy (National Stadium) are set to be completed in June 2011. The Stadion Nawodwy, which is located in the capital city of Warsaw, will be able to seat 56,000, while Stadion Majeski, located in the city of Wroclaw, will hold 42,771.

Geographically, Wroclaw is significantly closer to the German border than Warsaw. A fight at the Stadion Miejeski in theory could draw more Klitschko supporters than if it were to be held in the further Stadion Nawodwy. Make no mistake, however, regardless of location, this crowd will be overwhelmingly pro-Adamek, but being that the Klitschko brothers are now based out of Germany, thousands of their supports will undoubtedly spill over the German-Polish border to witness their beloved champion do battle, whichever brother it may be.

For me, the most intriguing part about this fight is that one of the champions will be facing the best Tomasz Adamek they can possibly face. Unlike most of their recent opponents, who prematurely jump at the chance to get a crack at the crown, Adamek has been to the top of the mountain in two different weight classes already.

He has set goals for himself and hasn’t stopped until he has grabbed titles. For the last fifteen months, Adamek and his team have been preparing for the very moment that will come in September.

He has proven he could take a heavyweight’s punch when he duked it out with Chris Arreola over twelve rounds. He has proven he could beat a taller fighter when he outpointed the 6’7” Michael Grant. And perhaps most importantly as a heavyweight, Adamek proved that he is world class boxer.

After his first two heavyweight fights — against Andrew Golota and Jason Estrada — Adamek and his longtime trainer Andrzej Gmitruk split ways, allowing Gmitruk to tend to his own health concerns. That’s when “Goral” picked up Roger Bloodworth as his primary trainer.

Since linking up with Bloodworth, Adamek is noticeably more mobile. He has Americanized his fight-game and sharpened his defense. He hits and he moves. He throws countless combinations and less willing to go blow-for-blow with an opponent, as he was accustomed to at lower weight classes.

Adamek was quicker than the five heavyweights he’s faced so far, and he’ll be quicker than both Klitschkos. I don’t think many people will be giving Adamek much of a chance against either Klitschko, but it’s comforting to know that the to-be-challenger is a ex-champion who deserves his crack at heavyweight glory.

At the age of 34 and having done it twice already, Adamek knows what it takes to be world champion. After handpicking opponents to prepare him for a meeting with one of the Ukrainian giants, come September Adamek will be as ready as he’ll ever be.

Kyle Kinder can be reached via Twitter at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or at KyleKinder1@gmail.com.

At the Hamilton Manner in Hamilton, New Jersey, former Olympic bronze medalist, Terrance Cauthen, outpointed Philadelphia’s Philip “Mongoose” McCants to recapture his winning ways.

For Cauthen, this bout marked his first fight since losing John O’Donnell in London last September, while for McCants, this was only his second fight since 2006.

Each stanza of the six round bout seemed to be a mirror image of the previous round. The fight was riddled with clinching and holding — and for the first time all night, the crowd demanded more action.

For the type of fight this turned out to be, there was no doubt Cauthen was better suited. The quick southpaw would throw one or two punches at a time before (and to his credit, landed them at high success rate) leaning on McCants, waiting for the referee to step in and separate the two.

McCants had trouble finding ways to let his hands go, as much of his punches were thrown with little to nothing on them while he and Cauthen were in close, tied up.

The “Mongoose” had no answer for Cauthen’s speed as the former Olympian’s jabs and straight lefts were beginning to leave their stamp on McCant’s face as early as the second round. As the fight progressed, McCants’ right continued to swell at an alarming rate, undoubtedly making it more difficult for the native-Philadelphian to conduct his work.

While it was Cauthen who did much of the leaning and holding, McCants was a guilty culprit at times as well and in the fourth round, the referee took points away from McCants and Cauthen for that very reason.

In the fifth round, Cauthen shoved McCants a bit, forcing him off-balance and at the same time threw a punch that grazed McCants and sent him to the canvas. The referee ruled it a knockdown and subsequently the round should have been scored 10-8 Cauthen.

Similar to American super middleweight Andre Ward, Cauthen is a fighter with an outstanding amateur pedigree. There is no doubt that he can box when he wants to.

However, also like Ward (of recent), Cauthen saw it fit to initiate clinching between he and his opponent and fight an unpleasing style.

With that said, “Heat” did what he had to do to get back in the win column and that’s all that counts.

All three judges scored the bout in favor for Cauthen. Judge George Hill had it 58-53; Luis Rivera saw it 59-53; and Gene Williams scored it 59-52.

With the win, Cauthen improves to 36-7, 9 KOs, while McCants falls to 8-2-1, 3 KOs.

Charles Hayward vs. Jason Burrell — 6 Rounds, light heavyweight

Philadelphia’s Charles Hayward went all Bachman Turner Overdrive on Wilmington Delaware’s Jason Burrell and took care of business before three rounds, improving his record to 6-2, 2 KOs.

Sporting Duke University trunks (basketball shorts), Burrell seemed a little out of place from the start, when he and his team walked to the wrong corner of the ring.

Having not fought professionally in over five years, Burrell showed no immediate signs of ring rust, engaging in a brawl with Hayward from the opening bell, exchanging wild, ill-intentioned power punches with one another.

This proved to be a bad idea for Burrell when he got caught with a left-right combination that sent him to the canvass. He beat the ref’s ten count, but less than a minute later was dropped with another left-right combo at the bell. Burrell flamboyantly returned to his feet, raising his arms in the air to signal to the crowd he was alright.

However, after returning the stool on unsteady legs, referee Dave Franciosi wasn’t convinced. When Burrell stood up for the start of round three, Franciosi didn’t like what he saw and called a halt to the bout, awarded Hayward the TKO victory.

Burrell drops to 2-6-3, 2 KOs with the loss.

Derrick Webster vs. William Chouloute — 4 Rounds, middleweight

Although he dropped a four round decision to Derrick Webster, he won me over with his fantastic nickname: William “21 Gun” Chouloute.

Trenton’s Webster using a snapping jab to keep Chouloute on the outside for all four rounds, making him pay a dear price when he dared to rush inside. After cruising through the first three rounds, the undefeated Webster turned up the heat in the fourth, clearly making an effort to add another KO to his record.

With a barrage of rights and lefts, Webster overwhelmed Chouloute until the finally was knocked off balance, letting gravity due the rest. “21 Gun” Chouloute beat the referee’s ten count, however, and survived to hear the final bell.

Webster won on all three scorecards by scores of 40-35. He improves to 6-0, 4 KOs, while Chouloute drops to 1-2, 1 KO.

Alando Swain vs. David Navero — 4 Rounds, super middleweight

Philadelphia’s David Navero’s professional debuted lasted all of just 1:44 seconds. That was all the time Alando Swain needed to drop Navero twice and force referee Al Huggins to step in and call a halt the bout.

About a minute into the inaugural round, Swain perfectly placed a right hand on Navero’s chin, sending him to the canvas. After the Philly fighter beat the 10 count, Swain immediately picked up where he left off, throwing two vicious left hooks to Navero’s body, before dropping him for the second and final time with one more right hand.

With the win, Swain improves to 2-1, 2 KO, while Navero starts his career 0-1.

Mark Ford vs. Tyaab Beale — 4 Rounds, heavyweight

In a battle of two big men, Newark’s Tyaab Beale easily navigated by Trenton’s Mark Ford, sweeping a decision on all three judge’s scorecards, earning himself a unanimous decision victory.

Beale was slightly more athletic and undoubtedly in better shape than his opponent. After a mildly competitive first round, Ford got up off his stool and was gassed. He spent at least two-thirds of the second round catching his breath while taking punishment with his back pinned against the corner of the ring.

Beale capitalized on his opponent’s lack of punch output and outworked his opponent in all four rounds.

With the win Beale improves to 3-3, 1 KO, while Ford drops to 2-2, 1 KO.

Marcus Smith vs. Bernard Porter — 4 Rounds, junior welterweight

Trenton’s Marcus Smith decided it was time for his “O” to go. When he entered the Hamilton Manner’s doors he was an 0-3 fighter, having just been stopped in his last fight.

When he exited the ropes after his fight concluded, he was the proud owner of a 1-3 record, with that coming by way of second round stoppage.

Both fighters weren’t particularly hard to find, and in the first round they both got touched up. When the round concluded, Porter — who was making his professional debut, was sporting a bloody nose.

Unlike the first round, which featured a bit more back and forth action, the second round belonged to Smith. The Trenton native dropped Philadelphia’s Porter early in the round courtesy of a short left hook. Shortly after he beautifully countered a straight right with a straight right of his own that landed right on Porter’s chin, sending him crumbling to the canvas. That’s when Porter’s corner stepped in and stopped the fight at the :56 mark of round 2.

Yehudi Fracas vs. Jesse Crawford — 4 Rounds, welterweight

In the night’s opening bout, Trenton’s Yehudi Fracas bested Philadelphia’s Jesse Crawford via majority decision to start his professional career with a 1-0 record.

Both fighter’s found success at different times throughout their twelve minutes in the ring together, however, it was Fracas who continually got the better of Crawford, who spent too much time going backwards.

When it was all said and done, one judge scored the bout even, 38-38, while two judges awarded Fracas the decision by scores of 40-35 and 39-36, respectively.

Part 1/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 2/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 3/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 4/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 5/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Part 6/6 Cotto-Mayorga NYC Press Conference 1/19/11

Alicia Ashley vs. Crystal Hoy — Jr. Featherweights, 8 Rounds
In the first ever female main event in New York City boxing history, Brooklyn’s Alicia Ashley bested Sin City’s Crystal Hoy by a unanimous decision at the Masonic Temple in the historic Fort Hood section of Brooklyn.

Ashley lived up to her nickname, “Slick,” as she cruised to her wide-margined victory over eight rounds. It was clear from the get-go that Hoy would have trouble with her much taller opponent, and subsequently, Ashley was able to keep her opponent at bay.

The opening round set the pace for the fight, with Ashley getting the better of Hoy, while still playing host to a few solid shots thrown by Hoy. As the fight progressed, Ashley continued to implement her strategy of firing off a few punches, then swiftly move out of harm’s way.

Hoy spent most of the fight attempting to apply pressure to the elusive Ashley. Unfortunately for the Filipino-American, success was few and far between. Although her corner repeatedly pleaded with Hoy to throw more punches as the two were tied up, insisted that Ashley was feather-fisted, screaming “She can’t hurt you!” she was unable to fully capitalize while on the inside with Ashley.

In the eight round, much to the delight of the hometown fans, Ashley scored a knockdown courtesy of a grazing left hook. Hoy was unshaken by the knockdown, but at that point it was all academic anyway.

Ashley defeated Hoy by scores of 80-71 and 79-72, twice.

With the win, Ashley improves to 16-9-1, 1 KO, while Hoy drops to 5-4-3, 2 KO.

“I felt a little rusty,” said Ashley, 16-9-1 (1 KO). ” I wasn’t being the typical slick fighter I am because Crystal forced me to fight her fight at times.

When asked how she felt being a part of female boxing history Ashley said: “It was nerve wracking. I was so nervous but I’m glad I came out on top and won the fight.”

“This was an amazing event, the support for both the females from all in attendance was overwhelming and it meant a lot. It showed the changing tides in accepting an athlete for an athlete, regardless of gender. I want to thank Global Boxing’s Mariusz Kolodziej for believing in me and helping make this all possible.”

“I was very pleased to be a part of this milestone in boxing history,” said Global Boxing CEO Mariusz Kolodziej. “But I was sitting and watching; It was all Maureen Shea. I’m so glad to see her succeed.”

Eilon Kedem vs. Jose “Chily” Rivera — Jr. Welterweights, 6 Rounds

In what was undoubtedly the fight of the night, New Rochelle’s Jose “Chily” Rivera eked out a close majority decision victory over Brooklyn’s Elion Kedem.

From the opening bell, the two junior welterweights made it clear that they were willing to take a punch or two to land a few of their own — and that’s exactly what they did for the entire eighteen minutes spent inside the ring together.

After two rounds of non-stop back and forth action, both fighter’s faces were already marked up, and Rivera had blood dribbling out of his nose.

The third round would feature all that and more when the two to engaged in battle for the full three minutes. To both of these fighter’s credit, they threw all of their punches with purpose — it was an impressive display of discipline and offensive skill on both their parts.

They fought within inches of each other for most of the fight, with Kedem committing to attacking Rivera’s body, while “Chily” consistently snapped Kedem’s head back courtesy of well-placed right uppercuts.

Chants of “Mexico! Mexico!” broke out in the crowd (to support Rivera) and the crowd gave a round of applause as these two fighter’s slugged it out until the final bell.

In a bout in which virtually every round could have went either way, one judge scored it even, 57-57 while two judges scored the bout in Rivera’s favor, 59-55 and 58-56, giving “Chily” the victory.

With the win, “Chily” Rivera improves to 3-2-1, while Kedem drops to 10-4-4, 6 KO.

“I never think about points,” said Kedem. “I just go out there and fight. I never felt I was losing, but I just gotta back harder next time. I’d love to fight him again; I’d fight anyone.”

Armin Mrkanovic vs. Sharieff Hayes — Cruiserweight, 4 Rounds

In front of his legion of Bosnian fans, Armin Mrkanovic scored a unanimous decision victory over Phoenix’s Sharieff Hayes to start off his professional career a perfect 1-0.

Hayes, who sported long black gym shorts because he forgot his trunks — and protective gear for that matter — was battered around a bit for four rounds, never able to stop Mrkanovic’s overhand right that consistently came in around his opponent’s defense.

In the third round, after Mrkanovic stumbled Hayes after battering him with right hands, Hayes was able to catch Mrkanovic and momentarily daze him in the closing seconds of the round.

In the sixty second intermission between bells, Mrkanovic was able to shake off any cobwebs that might have still been lingering and immediately picked back up where he left off in the first two rounds and most of round three.

At the conclusion of the fight, all three judges saw the bout 40-36 in Mrkanovic’s favor.

“I was really happy with the win,” said Mrkanovic, who was 6-0 as a mixed martial arts fighter. “I made some mistakes like trying to pulling back looking for distance to kick. He took some hard hits, I was surprised he didn’t go down.”

Nicholas Lavin vs. Bakari — Cruiserweight, 4 Rounds

Between his tens of noisy and energetic fans scattered throughout the Temple and his opponent, simply named Bakari (that’s all there was on the bout sheet — and after a few failed inquiries as to learn more about this mysterious boxer, I came to accept it), this match had a classic WWF feel to it.

Lavin scored best with his left hook throughout the bout, as Bakari struggled protect against it. Throughout the bout, Lavin proved to be the more athletic and less awkward fighter of the two, and was able to best Bakari working behind a nice jab.

In the fourth and final round, Lavin landed three consecutive left hooks right on the button, sending Bakari into survival mode. After absorbing a steady stream of blows provided by Lavin, referee Sparkle Lee stepped in and called a halt to the bout at the 1:06 mark of the fourth round.

With the win, Yonker’s Lavin improves to 2-0, 2 KO, while Bakari drops his professional debut.

Edward Ayuso vs. Kevin Walker — Jr. Middleweights, 4 Rounds

The first fight of the night saw two boxer’s make their professional debut.

When it was all said and done, Cleveland, Ohio’s Kevin Walker walked away with a majority decision victory over Carolina, Puerto Rico’s Edward Ayuso.

The judges scored the bout 38-38, and 40-36 and 39-37 in Walker’s favor.

Evander Holyfield had just finished working out at New York City’s Church Street gym Tuesday morning when he sat on the ringside steps and answered questions from the media. When asked about his toughest victory, without hesitation Holyfield replied “Dwight Muhammad Qawi.”

“That was a fifteen round fight,” Holyfield said. “It was like somebody blindfolded you and threw you into the ocean. Then you look and you don’t know which direction to go, but you know if you stop you’re going to drown.”

He then went on to explain how he weighed fifteen pounds less at the final bell than he did at the start of the fight. Then he spoke about never giving up; he talked about resisting the urge to quit.

“I rather die before I quit, because I won’t know if I quit if I die. I just don’t want to remember quitting.”

In many ways, Holyfield’s (43-10-2, 28 KO) own words about quitting represent the forty-eight year old’s legendary career.

“The Real Deal” is the only five-time heavyweight champion in the sport’s storied history. Conversely, he is also the only boxer to ever lose his heavyweight title on five different occasions.

But each time Holyfield has lost his title in the past, he has come back to get it, he never quit. However, since losing his last championship belt to John Ruiz in 2001, the championship titles have eluded him.

Just over two years ago, Holyfield was on the losing end of a controversial split decision against Nikolai Valuev, which undoubtedly left “The Real Deal” with a bitter taste in his mouth, knowing just how close he came to reclaiming his crown.

He’ll continue his journey back to the top on Saturday night in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where he’ll square off against thirty-eight year old veteran, Sherman “Tank” Williams (34-11-2, 19 KO).

With a win over Williams, Holyfield hopes to turn his attention to Denmark’s Brian Nielson (64-2, 43 KO), for an early March bout. If all goes according to plan in Copenhagen, “The Real Deal” said he’ll look to fight once more in 2011.

While Holyfield’s financial troubles have come into public view over the last few years, specifically his woes with regards to his estate and child support payments, “The Real Deal” insists his reasons for being in the ring are centered more on recapturing a title rather than earning a paycheck.

“The big thing is performance. If you love to perform, money will come,” Holyfield said. “I know what I’m doing and if I didn’t want to box, I’d say ‘Okay, I don’t want to do it anymore.’”

If he gets by Williams, Nielson, and his third opponent this calendar year, Holyfield hopes to get a crack at a Klitschko brother or David Haye in 2012. While he noted that he has no preference as to which champion he’d rather face, in answering one reporter’s question, he did agree that a bout between he and Haye would make for an interesting fight, given their similar stature as smaller heavyweights.

“It [a fight with Haye] would be good. We both came up from cruiserweight and he’s a skillful fighter,” said Holyfield. “You find that the young guy brings something, but the older guy brings something too. I’d have to outthink him.”

But first, with three fights his goal for 2011, Holyfield will need to find the same fountain from which the forty-six year old Bernard Hopkins drinks. You know, the one that disguises the skills of a world class fighter inside an aging man’s body.

“When I was younger, they said I was too young and now that I’m older, they say I’m too old,” Holyfield said. “But I was able to do it then…You may not get it when you want it but you may still get it if you don’t quit.”

For a man whose practiced this violent trade professionally for over twenty six years, the sport is Holyfield’s ocean. He didn’t quit against Qawi in ’86 and he was rewarded by winning the WBA cruiserweight title via split decision. Now, the resilient Holyfield is refusing to quit his quest to capture a sixth world heavyweight championship. He’s not hanging it up his gloves just yet, he’s not ready to drown.

Whether you realize it or not, FX has been a power-player in network television for the better part of a decade. Since 2002, FX has continually pumped out above average dramas, and more recently, a few can’t-miss comedy series.

Last night, FX debuted their newest series, Lights Out, a drama that’s centered around a former heavyweight champion, Patrick “Lights Out” Leary (Holt McCallany), and focuses primarily on his relationship with his family, money, and career inside the ring.

The pilot episode opens with Leary laying on a table, his face disfigured and covered in blood. The wounds are a result of an absolute slugfest between he and “Death Row” Reynolds.

I was immediately intrigued by the effort made to by the writer’s to give Lights Out an unexpected authenticity to their story. During the fight between Leary and Reynolds, Kenny Albert and Steve Farhood were calling the action, while top-notch cutman, Danny Milano, worked on Leary in his corner.

The real story takes place five years after that beating, where we learn Leary lives with his family in a suburban area in New Jersey and is the owner of a boxing gym. He’s going through trying times financially and jumps at the opportunity to make a little cash here and there, serving as both the caller in a Bingo hall, as well as “muscle” for some debt collectors.

The pilot ends with “Death Row” Reynolds challenging Leary to a rematch, something his wife immediately voices her opposition to. Presumably, in the next episode, Leary will accept this challenge as a means to financially support his family.

Leary proves to be a likable character — a loving husband and father, who clearly only wants the best for his family. As the series progresses, it will be interesting to see how his relationship with his family members changes as he returns to the ring.

What I’m looking forward to the most about Lights Out is the character development. They have already shot and solidified a thirteen episode season. Therefore, during those episodes, it is my hope that the viewer will get to know the characters — think something like LOST. I’m not hoping for entire episodes to be dedicated to obscure characters, I’m just hoping that over the thirteen hours that comprise of season one, we get to know the main players on a personal level.

I watch a ton of television as is — probably too much. My favorite series of all time are The Wire, Lost, The Sopranos, Mad Men, and 24, in that order. It will be difficult for Lights Out to ever penetrate the gates into my five all-time favorite television series, but I don’t doubt the show’s potential.

The simple fact that FX is the network behind Lights Out makes me optimistic that the series will develop into must-see television.

Having been one of the more consistent networks of the past ten years, FX has thrown their brand behind EMMY award winning series such as, Damages and The Shield. They are also the network behind the EMMY-nominated series Rescue Me and annual EMMY-snub Sons of Anarchy.

Further, they have hit two home runs in the comedy genre with regards to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Louie.

If you are like me and prefer enjoying a series from it’s inaugural episode and not play catch-up later via DVD, then do yourself a favor, and relax, turn the lights out, and enjoy FX’s newest drama.

Lights Out airs Tuesdays at 10 PM on FX.

Kyle Kinder can be reached at KyleKinder1@gmail.com or Twitter.com/KyleKinder

The beginning of 2011 looks promising for the sweet science. Moreso than the beginning of 2010, at least.

After a late rally and strong conclusion for boxing last year, the sport offers intriguing match-ups early in the new year that are sure to keep the fistic dialogue flowing.

January might as well be labeled “The Month of the Prospect” as fans will get a chance to witness talented up-and-comers who are set to become serious contenders in the near future.

In just two days, ESPN’s Friday Night Fights returns with hard-hitting Russian, Ruslan Provodnikov (17-0, 11 KO) taking Mauricio Herrera (15-1, 7 KO). Former Olympian Demetrius Andrade (11-0, 8 KO) will also be featured when he squares off against Alberto Herrera (7-1, 5 KO).

Later in the month, Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (17-0, 13 KO) will face Aaron Pryor Jr. (15-2, 11 KO) in a bout scheduled for ten. Easily the best super middleweight prospect, Rodriguez has been in high-demand as of late, serving as sparring partners for both Carl Froch and Jean Pascal as they prepared for their bouts against Arthur Abraham and Bernard Hopkins, respectively.

Cuban junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (14-0, 9 KO) is coming off three straight first round knockouts. Viewers will get watch him duke it out with Delray Raines (18-8-1, 13 KO), a fight which will air on Telefutura. Also on that card will be two promising Golden State prospects, Frankie Gomez (7-0, 6 KO) and Randy Caballero (6-0, 4 KO).

As per usual during a Telefutura card, I will be sitting in front of the television regretting my decision to quit Spanish in school, in favor of Italian. Regardless, these are three legitimate prospects all in one place on the same night.

In addition to all the prospects that will be televised throughout the month, the most anticipated bout of new year’s first month will take place when Tim Bradley takes on Devon Alexander in a junior welterweight unification bout. Most likely, the winner will face Amir Khan at some point in 2011 to see who the class of 140.

In February, Mike Jones and Jesus Soto-Karass will run back their ten round brawl and Fight of the Year candidate. While there is little doubt that taking this fight was the best financial deal on the table for Team Jones, to me, his decision to accept a rematch speaks volumes to the type of person Jones is. Although Jones will profit from literal profit and more exposure, as the rematch will air on HBO, he could have foregone a rematch with Soto-Karass

He didn’t. He wants to prove he earned the victory the first time by leaving no doubts in their second battle.

In the first fight, after punching himself in the second round while Soto-Karass was backed against the ropes, an exhausted Jones clearly struggled the rest of the fight. After thirty minutes of action inside the ring, many felt that Soto-Karass had pulled off the upset and was deserving of a victory.

On February 18, he’ll have a chance to prove it.

That fight will be followed by arguably the most anticipated bout in the first two months of the new year: the bantamweight unifying clash between Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17 KO) and Fernando Montiel (44-2, 34 KO).

A DVR-worthy bout that will be airing around the same time as the HBO card will feature Maryland’s (via the Dominican Republic) Fernando Guerrero (20-0, 16 KO) stepping up in competition against tough journeyman, Saul Roman (33-8, 25 KO).

Finally, February commences with a Showtime card that will see Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (26-0-1, 19 KO) duel with Miguel Acosta (28-3, 22 KO) over a scheduled twelve rounds for a WBA title.

We ended 2010 with both November and December’s to remember.

Now we begin with two months that are full of potential, in the form of serious prospects, as well as Fight of the Year type bouts between Bradley-Alexander and Donaire-Montiel.

I highly doubt January and February will be months to forget.

Jean Pascal may have escaped Quebec City’s Pepsi Coliseum with his championship belts last weekend, but he didn’t escape his execution, he simply postponed it.

Now that three days have passed since Pascal battled Bernard Hopkins to a majority draw, the dust is beginning to settle. We have weathered the immediate storm of swirling rumors and conspiracies.

We know now that there wasn’t any tampering with official scorecards, nor did the WBC issue an immediate rematch following the fight.

Pascal and his team, led by promoter Yvon Michel, intend to honor their contractual obligation to make a rematch with Chad Dawson, who Pascal outclassed earlier this year to capture his light-heavyweight titles.

Then, only after Pascal-Dawson II concludes, will Michel look to put together Pascal-Hopkins II.

In his fight with Dawson, Pascal was seemingly cruising to victory, when he allowed his counterpart to come on strong in the later rounds before a clash of heads ended the bout in the eleventh.

At the time of the head-butt, Pascal was gassed. Even with plenty of rounds in the bank, Pascal was going to struggle to make it through the rest of the fight. All he had to do was get on his bike — but there was barely any air left in his tires.

Ultimately, the cut over Dawson’s eye due to the clash of heads prevented the final four minutes of the fight from ever taking place, and it resulted in a Pascal victory.

Since it had already been a knock on Pascal that he fades in the mid-to-late rounds of fights — and seeing how strong Dawson came on late in his most recent fight before Hopkins — you would think Pascal and his team would address his stamina and make it a non-issue.

Not the case. After sending the old man to the canvas twice in the first three rounds, albeit — never hurting Hopkins, Pascal seemed to be befuddled by Hopkin’s work-ethic and work-rate, almost in awe of what the soon to be forty-six year old was doing.

The charges forward that had been so successful against “Bad Chad” in June were few and far between in the Hopkins fight. B-Hop played matador to Pascal’s bull.

Pascal’s punch output, which was never something to awe at anyway, was limited to only 30 per round against Hopkins. He averaged slightly over forty against Dawson.

The Philadelphia native battered Pascal’s body with vicious punches, no doubt contributing to Pascal’s minimal punch output.

When the final bell concluded, after a both fighter’s went at one another for the full three minutes,

Judge Steve Morrow of the United States scored the match 114-112, Hopkins. While Canada’s Claude Paquette and Belgium’s Dan Van De Wielle saw the bout a draw, 114-114 and 113-113, respectively.

From my seat in front of my 52” TV, I scored the bout 114-112, Hopkins. I gave the first three rounds to Pascal, two of them 10-8 due to knockdowns. I also gave Pascal the eight round.

The other eight rounds went to Hopkins, all by scores of 10-9.

But with that said, had I given Pascal round twelve, which was as close as close can be, or any other round I scored for Hopkins, my score card would have read like that of the Belgian judge’s.

So did I think Hopkins won the fight, absolutely. Do I think a draw was highway robbery? No, not really.

To be honest, I fully expected Claude Paquette’s card to read something like 116-111, Pascal, and was pleased when Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced he saw the fight even.

But the unfortunate fact in all of this is that Hopkins cannot fight on forever. He’s been playing the 18th hole of his career for a few years now. At some point, all athletes have to leave Neverland.

At his age, another eight months or so before he gets another crack at Pascal could mean a lot. You never know when or if Hopkins will one day look old overnight.

Even still, there is little doubt in my mind that if the two meet again next year, Hopkins will best him again.

The problem is, I’m not sold Pascal-Hopkins II happens.

Hopkins is well-versed in boxing history, he is a true student of the game. Leading up to this bout, the Executioner was motivated by history — working hard to become the oldest champion in boxing history. That record meant everything to Hopkins.

“I’ll walk through fire with gasoline shoes on to get that,” Hopkins said before the fight.

And he pretty much did. Besides touching the canvas twice, Hopkins did all that could be expected of a fighter his age. His resiliency and performance undoubtedly earned him a rematch, if not an outright victory.

But the scorecards will forever remained unchanged and BHop will have to be patient for another chance to “execute” Pascal.

Only problem is, when that time comes around, Dawson may have already done the honors.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com

“I was teaching him boxing because he got beat up one day at school. I was teaching him how to defend himself.”

In that sense, Denis Douglin’s boxing career was born from a mother’s love for her child.

When her son was just eight year’s old, Saphya Douglin, introduced him to the sweet science. She began bringing him to work with her at the since-closed Rivera Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, where she worked as a personal trainer.

“Denis used to run around in the gym, not wanting anything to do with boxing,” she said. “But then he’d see all the other little kids in there and they were enjoying the sport, so he decided it was something he wanted to do.”

While he ultimately committed to the sport, Denis’s relationship with boxing was anything but love at first sight.

“I hated it at first,” he admitted. “I didn’t like the training. But it’s definitely something I’ve learned to love.”

And since those times in Brooklyn some ten-plus years ago, the two have embarked together on a fistic endeavor that has led to Douglin’s emergence as one of the highest touted junior middleweight prospects in boxing.

Under his mother’s tutelage, Douglin stormed through the amateur ranks, racking up New York, New Jersey, and National Golden Gloves titles.

Now residing in Marlboro, New Jersey and nicknamed “Da Momma’s Boy” for obvious reasons, Douglin owns an undefeated record of 11-0 with seven kayos.

After starting his career 7-0 with four kayos, Douglin began a descent in weight from middleweight to junior middleweight, a move to which he attributes his recent string of knockouts.

In his last four fights, although pitted against tough, veteran opposition — who have shared the ring with the Paul Williams and Yuri Foremans of the world — Douglin stopped them all, three of them inside two rounds.

The humble southpaw describes himself as a boxer-puncher who can outbox his counterparts and overwhelm them with meaningful high-volume punching. Douglin likes to throw his punches in bunches and keeps his foot on the gas pedal.

“I try and go in there and let my hands go,” Douglin said. “I try to throw as many punches as I can to get my opponent out of there.”

While “Da Mamma’s Boy” has battered six of his first eleven opponents into submission in two rounds or less, he is well aware of the dangers of getting into slugfests early in fights.

“I’m trying to be a little smarter in my first rounds. I’ve been coming out in first rounds throwing bombs, which leaves myself open,” he said. “We’re trying to work on being a little more calm, working more behind my jab, but after I work behind my jab, I’m still trying to drop a bomb and get him out of there.”

And on Friday night in Monroeville, PA — a small suburb just outside of Pittsburgh — the opponent Douglin will be trying to “get out of there” is West Virginia’s Matt Berkshire.

“I don’t know much about him,” he said. “He’s 11-2 and a right-handed fighter.”

At this stage in his career, Douglin doesn’t need to know much about his opponents. Combine Douglin’s work-ethic with his mother’s demands, and there is little to no chance that Douglin will ever enter a fight unprepared.

Further, the twenty-two year old Douglin frequently works alongside and spars with a world champion, surely drawing inspiration and gaining confidence from those experiences.

“Frankie [Edgar] is full of heart. He’s a small guy, but he keeps coming at you,” Douglin said of the UFC Lightweight Champion and frequent sparring partner. “Every time we spar he comes with something different, something new. I always have to make adjustments. He’s great, it’s been great work for me.”

When Friday’s fight concludes, Douglin will have fought six times this calendar year. While his activity rate seems relatively high, if Douglin and his mother had it their way, they would have fought twice as much this year.

Next year his mother would like to see him fight a “minimum of once a month.”

Douglin would have fought at about that pace this year if not for multiple last-minute fall-outs.

“It’s definitely a little frustrating when you have a date and you’re training towards that date and then you find out two weeks before the fight that the opponent pulled out or something went wrong and now you’re not fighting on the card,” Douglin said of his hard luck. “But I have a goal and that goal is to become a world champion, so nothing can get me unfocused.”

If all goes according to plan on Friday and Douglin finishes 2010 with a 12-0 record, the mother-son duo can look toward achieving their goals set for 2011.

Atop the list for both of them is gaining more exposure.

“My goal for the new year is that he is televised and has a big fight,” Saphya said. “And for us a big fight is not necessarily money — it means exposure for people to recognize that this is a diamond in the rough, that this is a person who can fight, that this is the next Mayweather or even bigger than that.”

Douglin agreed, echoing his mother’s statement.

“Hopefully my managers get me on TV a little more and get a little more exposure because I think my story is great and my style is great,” Douglin said. “I think it’s what boxing needs.”

Also on Douglin’s 2011 wish list: a fight with James Kirkland.

“I want to fight the best. I don’t want to be one of those fighter’s who just have a padded record,” he said. “I want to fight the best fighters out there. I really want to fight James Kirkland.”

But before the ball drops in Times Square and even before Christmas gifts are exchanged in ten days, Douglin has business to attend to in the form of Berkshire.

While Douglin is confident that he can adapt and adjust to overcome any obstacles that may be thrown his way, one constant in Douglin’s game plan is his mother in his corner.

During the fights, Douglin’s strategy is not overly-complex. It’s worked well for him so far.

“I come out in the first round, I see what my opponent has by letting my hands go and seeing how he responds to that,” he said. “Once I see what he does, in the second round and so on I’m able to go on and take over and take advantage of his mistakes.”

Between rounds is where his mother takes over, alerting him to his opponent’s flaws, enabling her son to make the necessary adjustments to succeed.

“My first question is always, “Are you okay?” she said. “But after that, then I start to tell him the things that I saw that he can capitalize on. I also tell him what I think he should do more of.”

Her mother first, coach second approach in the corner has a calming effect on Douglin, who gets the constant reminder that they are in this together.

“The advice that my mother gives me in-between rounds, it’s a relaxed feeling,” Douglin said. “She knows exactly how to get in touch with my emotions and bring the best out of me. It’s like going home in-between rounds.”

And with that said, all opponents of Douglin’s are effectively the road team, no matter where the fight takes place. With his mother in his corner, Douglin will always have home ring advantage.

NEWARK, NJ — Earlier today, fighter’s participating on the Thursday night’s card — headlined by Tomasz Adamek vs. Vinny Maddalone — weighed in at the Prudential Center. Below are the weights.

12 Rounds — IBF International/NABO Heavyweight Championship

Tomasz Adamek (42-1, 27 KOs) — 216.5 lbs.

vs.

Vinny Maddalone (33-6, 24 KOs) — 230 lbs.

8 Rounds — Middleweights

Patrick Majewski (13-0, 8 KOs) — 160 lbs.

vs.

Eddie Caminero (7-3, 7 KOs) — 158.5 lbs.

8 Rounds — Welterweights

Sadam Ali (10-0, 6 KOs) — 147 lbs.

vs.

Manuel Guzman (7-9-2, 3 KOs) — 145 lbs.

8 Rounds — Junior Middleweights

Gabriel Rosado (14-5, 8 KOs) — 155 lbs.

vs.

Jose Medina (12-8, 5 KOs) — 156 lbs.

6 Rounds — Super Middleweights

Tarvis Simms (25-1-1, 11 KOs) — 167 lbs.

vs.

Willis Lockett (12-10-5, 5 KOs) — 167 lbs.

4 Rounds — Junior Lightweights

Angel Concepcion (3-0) — 177 lbs.

vs.

Lekan Byfield (Pro Debut) — 166.5 lbs.

4 Rounds — Heavyweights

Bryant Jennings (4-0, 2 KOs) — 223 lbs.

vs.

Randy Smith (Pro Debut) — 256.5 lbs.

——

The “Brick City Boxing Series” card will take place December 9th at Prudential Center, Newark, NJ, and is promoted by Main Events and Ziggy Promotions in association with Star Boxing. Doors open at 6pm.

To keep up to date visit the Main Events Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Totowa-… and www.mainevents.com and www.starboxing.com

Tickets priced at $53, $78, $103 and $253 (ringside) can be purchased at Prudential Center Box Office, by calling TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or www.Prucenter.com

The fight is being distributed in North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 8PM EST / 5PM PST on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Avail-TVN and DISH Network in the United States and Viewer’s Choice and Bell TV in Canada. for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.Tickets priced at $53, $78, $103 and $253 (ringside) can be purchased at Prudential Center Box Office, by calling TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or www.Prucenter.com

Tomorrow night, Newark New Jersey’s Prudential Center will once again transform into “Little Poland” as thousands of Polish fight fans will flock to 165 Mulberry Street to watch Tomasz Adamek square off against New York’s Vinny Maddalone.

But before the legions of Polish fans witness Adamek do battle with Maddalone, they’ll have the opportunity to cheer on another Polish-born, New Jersey-based boxer.

Welterweight prospect Patrick Majewski will look to add another win to his already perfect record when he faces off against Lawrence, Massachusetts’ Eddie “Thunder” Caminero in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.

Majewski (14-0, 9 KO) was born in Radom, Poland, but now resides in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where six of his fourteen professional bouts have taken place.

In his last bout in October, the Polish-transplant defeated New Mexico’s Joseph Gomez (17-3-1, 8 KO) by seventh round stoppage in Kissimmee, Florida.

Majewski first hurt Gomez with a devastating left hook in the fourth round. Three rounds later, Majewski hurt his counterpart again and didn’t let him off the hook. Referee Frank Gentile stepped in and saved Gomez from absorbing further punishment, stopping the bout at the 1:50 mark of round seven.

But even after an impressive performance against tough opposition, Majewski and his team knew there was plenty of room for improvement.

“I made many mistakes my last fight,” Majewski said. “So my trainers — we tried to work on the leg movement, more head movement, and of course, more speed.”

Majewski will have a chance to showcase his sharpened skills against Caminero in front of an expected crowd of over ten thousand fans.

Caminero (7-3, 7 KO), who practices his trade under the watchful eye of “Irish” Micky Ward, has proven he is a rugged competitor who can out-will and out-punch his opponents.

In his last two bouts, Caminero scored upset victories over two seperate opponents, who prior to the bouts, sported a combined record of 14-1.

Caminero’s most recent fight took place in August in Brooklyn, New York against crowd favorite, and previously unbeaten fighter, Joe Smith, Jr.

The Massachussets native served as nothing more than a moving heavy bag for Smith in the opening round, as Caminero found himself with his back against the ropes, standing on unsteady legs.

Caminero was able to gather himself and survive the round, however, and by the third round, he began a relentless campaign against Smith’s body, which visibly took its toll on the taller Smith.

With blood dribbling out his mouth and the fourth round about to come to a close, Smith signaled to his corner he could no longer continue. Earlier in the round, Smith suffered a broken jaw courtesy of the heavy-handed Caminero, who notched his second straight victory.

Majewski is well aware of Caminero’s stubbornness inside the ropes, but is confident that his preparation leading up to this fight will result in a victory tomorrow night.

“I know that he’s tough, but I’m tough too,” said Majewski. “I’ve been training hard for this fight and I’m going to bring my work into the ring.”

Tomorrow night will mark the third time Majewski will fight at the Prudential Center and the second time he will fight on the undercard of an Adamek-headlined event. He knows there will be thousands of fans decked out in Poland’s colors of red and white who will be cheering his name. He also knows he cannot let the crowd become a distraction against a heavy-handed opponent like Caminero.

“It is a big feeling [to fight in front of the Polish fans], I’m really excited to fight over there,” Majewski said. “But during the fight you really have to focus on your opponent — don’t really worry about the crowd or the fans.”

Majewski, who turns 31 later this month, knows that one loss may result in a significant setback to his career and doesn’t plan on letting Caminero play spoiler.

With regards to his approach towards his fight tomorrow night, Majewski said, “Focus on your opponent then worry about the fans. Then after the fight we can celebrate together.”

Thoughts on select fights from last week

Javier Fortuna vs. Victor Valenzuela

Last Wednesday at BB King’s in New York City, two unbeaten prospects crossed paths in a bout that was scheduled for eight rounds.

Passaic, New Jersey’s Victor “Viper” Valenzuela squared off against the Dominican Republic’s Javier Fortuna, who was making his American debut.

Before the fight, Valenzuela sported an 8-0 record, with only one of those wins coming by knockout, while Fortuna entered the bout 12-0 with 9 knockouts.

For that reason, I was confused as to why Valenzuela was willing to fight fire with fire from the opening bell. Fortuna and Valenzuela forewent any use of a jab and began trading wild power punches — an exchange that would clearly favor the heavier-handed Fortuna.

Ultimately, a minute into the first round, Fortuna KO’d Valenzuela in a Sergio Martinez-esque fashion. Valenzuela scarily collapsed and just like that Valenzuela’s “O” had to go. His record and confidence both took a hit as he fell to 8-1, 1 KO, while Fortuna shined in his American debut, improving to 13-0, 10 KOs.

Crazy part about the KO is the fact that Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, is also Fortuna’s trainer. Further, like Martinez, he was discovered and brought to the United States by advisor Sampson Lewkowicz and is also signed to DiBella Entertainment.

—

Alex Perez vs. Doel Carrasquillo

That same night, I was also impressed by Newark, New Jersey’s Alex Perez, who
successfully navigated past tough journeyman Doel Carrasquillo in an eight round welterweight bout.

The fight marked the unbeaten Perez’s first bout since inking a deal with DiBella Entertainment.

Unlike Fortuna, Perez (13-0, 7 KO) didn’t blow his opponent out of the water. Rather, Perez was forced to outbox a veteran brawler for eight rounds — and did so with relative ease.

“I was pleased with everything that he did,” said Perez’s trainer and manager, Jose Rosario. “He finally showed me the things I wanted to see — and that was being smart and outboxing guys like the guy we fought today.”

Working behind a stiff right jab, Perez successfully kept the always-moving-forward Carasquillo at range, setting him up for combinations and devastating left hands.

By the second round, Carrasquillo’s face was already puffy, turning red in the process. Each time Perez hurt his Carrasquillo, the determined journeyman would talk taunt Perez and shrug it off as if he was unharmed (which was a lie, of course).

Perez’s only slip-up in this bout came in the fifth round when he tripped over Carrasquillo’s feet and got caught with a right hand that ultimately put him on the canvass.

“I slipped over his leg and they ruled it a knockdown,” said Perez. “It is what it is.”

Following a brief and unsuccessful appeal to referee Arthur Mercante Jr., Perez got right back up and immediately picked up where he left off, snapping his jab and throwing meaningful combinations.

Credit Carrasquillo (14-17-1, 12 KO) for his persistence as he brought non-stop pressure for twenty-four minutes. He was stubborn in his aggressiveness, constantly walking forward, getting peppered by stiff jabs and straight lefts along the way.

“I want to stiffen my jab up even more,” Perez said. “It will be key when I fight more guys like him who keep coming and keep coming.”

Carrasquillo’s pressure would make most boxer’s uncomfortable, but Perez seemed to embrace this type of fight early on — a credit to his trainer and his preparation.

“I saw Carrasquillo fight a couple times and I knew he was tough and was better than his record shows,” Rosario said. “He always fought tough fights and we knew he was dangerous so we prepared mentally and physically for him.”

Except for the flash knockdown, Perez controlled this fight from start to finish, a tribute to the 28 year-old’s maturity and versatility. Now that Perez has found a home under the DiBella Entertainment banner, there should be more regularity in his fight schedule, which is a plus for tri-state area fight fans.

There is a long list of things motivating Bernard Hopkins for his December 18 title bout with Jean Pascal but etched at the top is making history.

“You can’t make history all the time,” Hopkins said. “You can have a winning record, a winning season, but to actually make history — a baseball player hitting 500 home runs or something like that — these things don’t happen all the time.”

“I get a chance to be the oldest boxer on record in boxing history to win a title,” Hopkins continued. “And history making hasn’t ran out for Bernard Hopkins.”

A win in Quebec City against Pascal would result in Hopkins laying claim to both the WBC and Ring Magazine light heavyweight titles. It would also erase George Foreman’s name from the history books next to “Oldest Fighter To Win a Major Championship” and replace it with the Executioner’s.

“I’ll walk through fire with gasoline shoes on to get that,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins (51-5-1, 31 KO), who turns 46 on January 15, is convinced he has seen it all inside the ropes, and doesn’t believe Pascal (26-1, 16 KO) stands out as a superior talent.

“I’ve watched this guy’s [Pascal’s] defense,” Hopkins said. “I’ve watched how he swings with his head down. I’ve watched how he throws wild punches.”

Hopkins continued, “Then I looked at the fighters who have fought me the same way over the years — the Antwun Echols — the guys who threw punches to knock you out. Those punches don’t hit Bernard Hopkins.”

Hopkins, although seventeen years his counterpart’s senior, is convinced he has taken the necessary steps to ensure that he’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with Pascal over the potential thirty six minutes in the ring.

“I’m here because I am the most health conscious, clean-living person. No wine, no champagne; no anniversary, no birthday parties, no New Year’s — no sips,” Hopkins said of his strict zero-alcohol policy. “When you have that mentality, it buys you more time.”

If The Executioner was the least bit unsure he could beat Pascal, he wouldn’t be in the ring, his place in boxing history means too much to him.

“[I’ll fight] as long as it doesn’t take away from my legacy, as long as it doesn’t embarrass my legacy,” Hopkins said.

In less than three weeks, in a bout televised live on Showtime, Hopkins will have the opportunity to continue decorating his already Hall of Fame enshrined resume.

But for an aging prizefighter, one slip up can spell the end of a career — even for fighter as celebrated as Hopkins.

It is for that reason, Hopkins has allowed making history to be his carrot on a stick.

A win for Hopkins reserves another place in the all-important history books for Philadelphia’s finest, while a loss for the man they call ‘B-Hop’ could mean his career is history.

“I know it’s win and go further or lose and go home,” Hopkins said. “It’s the playoffs, baby.”

Thoughts on select fights this past weekend:

Carl Froch vs. Arthur Abraham

I’m having trouble coming to grips that the same guy who showed unbelievable courage and heart by fighting eight-plus rounds with a broken jaw against Edison Miranda took such few risks against Carl Froch.

I also don’t understand how there’s no ‘Plan B’ to Abraham’s strategy. In March, Andre Dirrell provided the blueprint on how to beat Abraham — on Saturday, Froch perfected it. The result: ‘2’ in the loss column for King Arthur.

While he seems to have retained his power moving up in weight — KO’ing Jermain Taylor — and flooring Dirrell twice in Detroit (neither of which counted, one was generously ruled a slip, the other was illegal and left Dirrell out cold) — the problem is that Abraham’s power punches land few and far between.

At super middleweight, he’s just too small in stature to effectively implement his strategy. The taller opponents have been able to keep Abraham on the outside with relative ease. Further, it’s a nice luxury for a boxer to know that when you fire punches Abraham’s way, there will be none coming back at you. For whatever reason, Abraham is either incapable or unwilling to counterpunch.

Although contractually obligated, I do admire how Abraham already stated that he will stay in the Super Six and do battle with Andre Ward in the semi-finals.

While Ward has been more of a brawler than a boxer of late, previous fights and his amateur pedigree leave no doubt that he can box when he has to/wants to. I’d imagine Ward will do his best to adopt the Dirrell-Froch strategy, despite only sporting a one inch reach advantage over the Armenian-born German.

Lastly, I felt really bad for the blonde girl who had to sit behind Nikolai Valuev in Helsinki. Paid top-dollar for a sixth row seat and got planted right behind the 7’2” Russian. Ouch.

Celestino Caballero vs. Jason Litzau

Classic case of underestimation — and struggling with weight apparently. But more importantly, two weeks ago Celestino Caballero uploaded a forty-six second Youtube video in which the lanky Panamanian called out JuanMa Lopez. Caballero called Lopez a “big chicken” with “no heart” & “no cojones” — whatever they are. He was apparently looking forward to a clash with top-notch featherweights and junior lightweights, while overlooking Litzau.

Also, previous to that, he posted a video directed at Litzau telling him the he was going to “break his face” and “kick his ass.”

Whoops.

Andre Berto vs. Freddy Hernandez

According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Andre Berto made $915,000 for his two minute and seven second fight with Freddy Hernandez. That’s approaching the money Sergio Martinez received for his rematch against Paul Williams. Think about it…

Sometime around what would have been the two minute mark of the second stanza, trainer Gabriel Sarmiento placed a crown on Sergio Martinez’s head, not only anointing him undisputed king of the middleweight division, but also — for my money — Fighter of the Year.

With one jaw shattering left cross, Paul Williams collapsed poetically to the canvas; blood dribbled from his mouth, his eyes cluelessly fixated on the blue mat on which he lie.

The electrifying left hand — which will likely result in Martinez winning Knockout of the Year — arrived milliseconds before “The Punisher’s” own left cross. Martinez took advantage of his counterpart’s right hand resting at his side, exposing his face to danger — exposing his chin to the Argentinian’s left hand.

Although Martinez entered and exited the ropes the champion on Saturday night, he surely wasn’t treated like one before hand. In order to make a rematch with Williams a reality, Martinez was forced to make numerous concessions to Team Williams.

For starters, Martinez, who retained his WBC and Ring Magazine middleweight titles, had to accept a catch-weight of 157 lbs., three pounds shy of the middleweight limit.

He was forced to occupy the blue corner, which was used by underdogs all night long, while Williams staked his claim to the red corner.

“Maravilla’s” name was the first one read by ring announcer Michael Buffer, which betrayed the tradition of having the challenger’s name precede that of the champion’s.

Further, Martinez’s payday of just over one million dollars was significantly less than what “The Punisher” received.

The mind games that were played and the concessions Team Maravilla were forced to make had zero effect on Martinez’s performance, however. The slick Argentinian executed his game plan flawlessly — a game plan that was jotted down on hotel parchment by Sarmiento only two days prior.

“Two days ago, I changed the program completely,” Sarmiento said, speaking through translator and Martinez advisor, Sampson Lewkowicz. “I found a big error from Paul Williams in the middle of the night and I couldn’t sleep the whole night. The next morning I changed the strategy, totally.”

“He always puts his body in front of his legs,” Sarmiento explained. “If he doesn’t put his right hand in the front, he cannot throw the left.”

After the fight, in Martinez’s locker room, Lewkowicz held up Sarmiento’s genius, which was etched into a tiny notebook. The contents consisted of a strategy that was designed to stop Williams inside two rounds. Remarkably, Martinez followed Sarmiento’s roadmap to a knockout to a tee.

Famed boxing scribe, Thomas Hauser, who was present in Martinez’s locker room before the fight, assured the rest of the media that the notebook had not been tampered with.

With the help of Sarmiento’s critical eye, Martinez knew just when to unload the thunderous left that sent Williams toppling face-first to the canvas.

Couple his obliteration of Williams with his convincing unanimous decision against Kelly Pavlik seven months earlier and you have the most deserving candidate of Fighter of the Year.

Further, with Martinez’s success comes well-deserved recognition of Gaby Sarmiento, who has made a solid case for Trainer of the Year, as well.

Yesterday, HBO announced that Martinez-Williams II was the second most watched non Pay-Per-View boxing broadcast this year, second only to the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman bout in Yankee Stadium. Further, Martinez punched his way onto television screens everywhere when ESPN replayed the knockout on SportsCenter.

The next time Martinez steps into the ring, he will not be disrespected. With one swing of his left hand, Martinez left no doubts that he is the best middleweight boxer on the planet. “Maravilla” is the undisputed king of the middleweight division.

After all, there is a reason he wears the crown.

You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder

Photo by Claudia Bocanegra

Part 2

Part 3

On Saturday night at Caesar’s Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) scored an electrifying second round KO over Paul “The Punisher” Williams (39-2, 27 KOs).

The knockout, which is undoubtedly the frontrunner for “Knockout of the Year” came at the 1:10 mark of round two and courtesy of a Martinez straight left.

In December of 2009, Williams was awarded a majority decision victory over Martinez — a close fight in which Judge Pierre Benoist turned in an inexplicable score of 119-110 in favor of Williams.

Seeking his revenge, Martinez made it clear he did not want his fate decided by three judges again. Rather, this time “Maravilla” took matters into his own hands, catching and dropping Williams with a blistering straight left that he would never get up from.

After picking up where they left off last December, the first round featured both fighter’s sharing their own bit of success. “Maravilla” made it a point to mix in a few body punches, but both fighters were clearly willing to stand in the pocket and trade with one another like they did eleven months ago.

The second round, or round fourteen, seemed to continue the trend of vicious exchanges when suddenly Martinez caught Williams with an unforgiving left that landed flush. The 6’1” Williams fell crumbled slowly and majestically to the canvass where he would lay motionless for the better part of two minutes and not return to his feet for about five.

Upon seeing his opponent collapse before his eyes, Martinez ran with excitement onto the turnbuckles and raised his arms in front of the Boardwalk Hall crowd, not even waiting to see if Williams would beat the ten count.

With the one punch knockout, Martinez asserted himself as frontrunner for not only “Knockout of the Year,” but also “Fighter of the Year” — also sporting an impressive victory of Kelly Pavlik earlier in 2010.

Further, Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, cemented his case as “Trainer of the Year,” an award in which he has already been nominated for. Only after the fight had come to a conclusion was it revealed that Sarmiento laid out a plan two days ago that had Martinez work Williams’ body in the inaugural round, before fainting — and faking a right — only to surprise Williams with a left that would knock him out in round two.

Like something out of a movie, that is exactly what happened as “Maravilla” executed his trainer’s plans to perfection, scoring an unbelievable knockout victory over Williams and asserting himself an “HBO A-side fighter” in the process.

With the win, Martinez retained his Ring Magazine middleweight title, as well as his WBC middleweight title.

Steve Upsher Chambers vs. Bayan Jargal — 8 Rounds, Welterweights

Philadelphia’s Steve Upsher Chambers (23-1-1, 6 KOs) squeaked out a split decision victory over the previously unbeaten Bayan Jargal (15-1-3, 10 KOs).

In the first two rounds, both fighter’s found their fare share of success, neither proving to be an elusive target.

In the first minute of round three, the two fighters were involved in a barbaric exchange with Upsher Chambers getting the better of Jargal. Upsher Chambers rocked Jargal multiple times in round three, but Jargal was unwilling to backdown, always having an answer for anything Upsher Chambers threw his way.

By round four, it was clear that Jargal was the effective aggressor, steadily moving forward while forcing Upsher Chambers to fight with his back against the ropes — which is where Upsher Chambers fought most of the fight.

In round six, with Upsher Chambers still against the ropes, Jargal unleashed a flurry of punches on Upsher Chambers, and tired himself in the process. Upsher Chambers came off of the ropes and landed a few punches of his own, drawing some “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.

When the final bell sounded to conclude the eight round, the fight went to the scorecards. Judge Joe Pasquale scored the bout 77-75 in favor of Jargal. Judges John McKay and Judge Ron Mcnair saw the bout 77-75 and 78-78, respectively, for the winner, Upsher Chambers.

Zsolt Erdei vs. Samson Onyango — 8 Rounds, Light Heavyweight

In front of a couple hundred loud Hungarian fans, Hungary’s Zsolt Erdei (32-0, 17 KOs) coasted to a unimous decision victory over Kenya’s Samson Onyango (20-7, 13 KOs).

Erdei methodically controlled the pace of the first three rounds, throwing a steady streams of jabs and letting straight rights fly. Onyango found success when he went to Erdei’s body, but had trouble finding Erdei’s face.

In round four, Erdei continued pressuring his Kenyan counterpart. Left hooks began to land with more regularity, and Erdei’s best punch of the round was a straight right that stumbled Onyango.

Rounds five, six, and seven mirrored those of the earlier rounds, with Erdei using a consistent flow of left hooks and straight rights to get the better of his opponent.

Round eight opening up with an impressive five-punch combination from Erdei that seemed to surprise Onyango. With the Hungarian fans chanting “Knockout! Knockout!” Erdei gave it his best shot to stop his opponent, letting his hands fly.

Erdei was unable to get the knockout, but did score a unanimous decision victory over Onyango. Judge Ron Mcnair saw the bout in Erdei’s favor, 79-73, while judges John McKay and Joe Pasquale agreed that Erdei won the bout 80-72.

Tony Thompson vs. Paul Marinaccio — 10 Rounds, Heavyweight

In a heavyweight battle, schedule for ten rounds, Tony Thompson (35-2, 23 KOs) scored a 4th round TKO victory over Buffalo, New York’s Paul Marinaccio (24-6-3, 11 KOs).

In the first round, Thompson asserted himself as the aggressor, continually coming forward, working behind an effective jab.

In the second round, Thompson landed a crushing straight left that snapped Marinaccio’s head back and and put his back against the ropes — where he remained for the rest of the fight. Thompson continued to pour on, landing a solid right hook, followed by a straight left. Thompson found his opponent with regularity in the second round, while Marinaccio seemed reluctant to let his hands go.

In the third round, Thompson continued his effective aggression, immediately backing his opponent into a corner, where he then began to pummel Marinaccio. Thompson continued to score at will to Marinaccio’s head, but rarely did any work to his opponent’s body.

In the fourth round, Thompson conintued his dominance, pressing the action and forcing Marinaccio to fight with his back against the ropes. Marinaccio couldn’t ward off the aggressive Thompson, who ultimately pinned Marinaccio into a corner, where he landed three straight vicious right hooks to the right side of Marinaccio’s face before the referee jumped in between the two and stopped the fight. He called a halt to the bout at the 2:02 mark of the fourth round.

Fernando Guerrero vs. Saul Duran — 8 Rounds, Middleweight

Undefeated Dominican phenom Fernando Guerrero (20-0, 16 KOs) kept his record perfect with a fourth round TKO over the tough Mexican, Saul Duran (36-17-3, 29 KOs).

The first round belonged to Guerrero, who imposed his will on his Mexican counterpart. Guerrero teed off on Duran, landing straight lefts at will. The Dominican showed off an impressive arsenal in the inaugural round, landing a healthy mix of jabs, body punches, straight lefts, and uppercuts — all inflicting damage to Duran.

In the second round, Guerrero picked up right where he left off, landing bullet-like lefts through Duran’s defense. The heavy-handed Dominican continued to land at an alarming success rate and ultimately dropped Duran in the second round courtesy of a straight left.

In the third round, the resilient Duran — in classic Mexican fashion — kept coming forward and engaging Guerrero. Duran kept Guerrero on the ropes for the majority of round three, but it was Guerrero who got the best of the exchanges.

In round four, Guerrero finished off his opponent in style, landing a left-right-left combination to Duran’s unprotected face, sending him to the canvas for the second — and last time. Referee Ricardo Vera called a halt to the bout at the 1:06 mark of round four.

Luis Del Valle vs. Noe Lopez Jr. — 8 Rounds, Featherweight

In a bout scheduled for eight rounds at the featherweight division, Newburgh, New York’s Luis Del Valle (11-0, 9 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO victory over Mexico’s Noe Lopez Jr. (6-7, 4 KOs).

Del Valle asserted his will in the opening round, constantly coming forward and getting the better of his opponent. The second round featured a savage exchange between the two fighters, with Del Valle landing a huge straight right, but Lopez immediately returning the favor by delivering a vicious uppercut followed by a straight left.

At the end of the second round, just as the bell sounded, Del Valle stunned Lopez with an ill-intentioned straight right, forcing his legs to wobble until he collapsed to the canvas. The referee, however, disallowed the knockdown.

In the fourth round, after being hit with a crackling body shot, Lopez dropped to a knee. After beating the referee’s ten count, Lopez found himself on unsteady legs — and was dropped by two left hooks, one to the body, one to the head. It is at that point that the referee saw it fit to call a halt to the bout awarding Del Valle the TKO victory.

Willie Nelson vs. Quinton Whitaker — 8 Rounds, Welterweight

Cleveland, Ohio’s Willie Nelson took his talents to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he improved his already undefeated record to 16-0-1 (10 KOs) with a first round TKO over San Antonio’s Quinton Whitaker (7-9, 5 KOs).

Midway through the first round, Nelson dropped Whitaker with a devastating straight right that he never recovered from. Whitaker beat the referee’s ten count, but was greeted seconds later two blistering left hooks, one to the body and one to the head that forced Whitaker to the canvass once more. Too tough for his own good, Whitaker once again beat the ten count, but was immediately greeted by a flurry of punches courtesy of Nelson, which ultimately led to the third knockdown of the first round.

The referee called a halt to the bout at the 2:22 mark in the first round.

With each tick of the biological clock, Manny Pacquiao’s boxing career draws one second closer to an end.

In recent years, Freddie Roach always seems to think Pacquiao’s next fight might be his last.

Manny’s mother, Dionisia, said before Saturday night’s fight, that she expected it to be her son’s final bout.

Whenever Pacquiao does call it quits, I imagine it will be abrupt. I imagine him going out on top.

Fortunately for the sport, Pacman says he’s got “two to three” more fight’s left in his dynamite fists.

After disfiguring notorious Mexican, Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao told the media that he still has business to tend to within the ropes.

Roach added to that sentiment, telling AOL’s Fanhouse, that for the rest of Pacquiao’s career, he will not fight below 147 lbs.

With that said, we could seemingly rule out a Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy — seeing how much trouble Marquez had moving up in weight when he faced Floyd Mayweather.

The elusive fight with Mayweather still remains an option for 2011, but Money May apparently would rather tussle with his girlfriend, security guards, or Johnny Law instead of getting in the ring with the Filipino Congressman.

If any of the standouts at junior welterweight moved up to challenge Pacquiao, he’d win with ease. Although, Gary Shaw insists once Tim Bradley downs Devon Alexander in January (which by no means is a foregone conclusion), he’ll be ready to take on Pacquiao. I think otherwise.

Two possible fights for Pacquiao to take next would be a bout against the winner of the rematch between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, which takes place this Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Both men would be present Pacquiao with an overwhelming size disadvantage. Further, they both possess lightning quick hands and thunderous power.

Perhaps it is a fight with Paul Williams that would finally be the fight where Pacquiao bites off more than he can chew. But in order for this fantasy to have a chance at becoming reality, Williams will need to successfully navigate past the crafty Argentinian on Saturday night.

Williams has insisted for the past two and a half years that he can make 147 lbs. whenever he needs to, but hasn’t weighed in for a fight less than 153 lbs. since November of 2008.

If the opportunity presents itself, the man who many consider the number three pound-for-pound boxer in the world, would have to put his money where his mouth is and come down in weight for a shot to knock off boxing’s best.

But unfortunately — besides a fight with Mayweather — the most money probably lies in a Sugar Shane Mosley vs. Pacquiao bout — a fight in which Pacman would surely disassemble the heavy-handed veteran.

The most important thing for fight fans, however, is that we recognize that no good thing lasts forever.

When Pacquiao relinquishes his post as boxing’s best, the torch he carried will not be passed down; there is no heir apparent.

It is for that reason that we should look past the fact that Pacquiao-Mayweather may never come to fruition. Whether you think Pacman’s relentless volume punching would overwhelm the defensive-minded Mayweather, or that Money May’s counterpunching would carry the day, let’s just enjoy what’s left of Pacquiao’s career before it’s over.

Let’s be grateful for the buzz Pacquiao creates around our sport every time he fights. And let’s marvel at the fact that a 5’6” man from Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines has steamrolled his way to a record setting eight divisional titles.

Savor the moment while it lasts; I highly doubt there will ever be another eight division champion. And one thing is for sure: there will never be another Manny Pacquiao.

Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank

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NORTH BERGEN, NJ — In a ten round middleweight bout, Ossie “The Ghanaian Gladiator” Duran (25-8-2, 9 KO) easily outpointed tough veteran, Matt “The Predator” Vanda (43-11, 25 KO). Working behind an electric jab, Duran was awarded a unanimous decisions by the scores of 99-91 and 100-90 twice.

From the opening bell Duran established an effective jab, consistently tagging Vanda at will. With his snapping jab, Duran was able to keep the usually combative Vanda at bay, never letting him fight on the inside.

After breezing through two rounds, Duran found himself trading with Vanda early in round three. “The Predator” came out aggressive, trying to turn the tide, but it was not meant to be. Every time Vanda enjoyed a bit of success, Duran would fire right back even the score.

By round four, Duran was peppering Vanda with a variety of punches. Besides throwing his unavoidable jab, “The Ghanaian Gladiator” was beginning to frequently land ill-intentioned body blows. Vanda’s suspect defense did little to stop the determined Duran as he began punching through or around “The Predator’s” gloves and to an exposed body.

In round seven, Vanda showed a sense of urgency by firing left hooks and straight rights Duran’s way. He tried to overwhelm Duran with power punches and backed the “Ghanaian Gladiator” up against the ropes, where he pounded away at a well-defended Duran.

Although this was Vanda’s most successful round, “The Predator” ran out of gas in the final minute, not throwing many punches and allowing the persistent Duran to steal the round.

Duran warded off a few more Vanda attacks before the final bell, but never found himself in any danger.

Juan “JZ” Zegarra vs. Bryan “The Brick” Abraham — 4 Rounds, Jr. Welterweight

In a bout that was explosive while it lasted, Juan “JZ” Zegarra stopped Bryan “The Brick” Abraham within two rounds to improve his already impressive record to 6-0, with 6 KOs.

The fight’s opening punch was a straight left hand courtesy of Zegarra that landed flush on the face of Abraham (2-4-2, 2 KO). To his credit, Abraham fired right back, connecting with wide but heavy punches. Zegarra seemingly respected Abraham’s power, but was willing to continue trading with him for the rest of the round.

Zegarra, a North Bergen import, via Lima, Peru, landed a huge straight left that rocked Abraham, sending him off balance. Abraham, although never falling to canvass, used his gloves to help keep him on his feet, resulting in a knockdown.

In the second round, Zegarra continued to trade with Abraham, seemingly willing to eat a punch or two in order to land his own shots. The Peruvian was clearly getting the better of the exchanges when his persistence paid off when he stunned Abraham with a huge left, sending him back into the ropes where Zegarra followed up and finished the job. Referee Eddie Cotten saw enough and called a halt to the bout at the 1:46 mark in round two.

Todd Erickson vs. Joe Dunn — 4 Rounds, Super Middleweights

In an impressive performance, Dover, New Jersey’s Todd Erickson (2-4-1, 1 KO) scored a unanimous decision victory of Philadelphia’s Joe Dunn.

Erickson used his height and reach advantage to keep Dunn from ever landing anything significant. The taller Erickson worked behind an effective jab in the early goings and gained more confidence as the bout progressed, as he rattled off more combinations in the last two rounds.

Dunn spent the first three rounds an arms length away from Erickson. In the final round, showing a little more urgency, Dunn attempted to get on the inside and fire off some punches, but he ended up paying a price for his efforts.

Erickson cruised to a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring it 40-36 for the fan-favorite.

Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez vs. Salim “The Dream” Al Quaadir — 4 Rounds, Jr. Middleweight

Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez made quick of Salim “The Dream” Al Quaadir to improve his record to 5-0, 3 KOs. Rodriguez dropped Al Quaadir (1-3) twice in the first round, with the second one concluding the fight.

Al Quaadir, who was fighting for the first time in twelve years, must have wished he never returned, as he spent the 2:57 of the first round on the receiving end of “The Beast’s” vicious punches.

Midway through the inaugural round, Al Quaadir took a knee after Rodriguez rattled off a steady stream of punches while Al Quaadir was backed into a corner.

The second knockdown, which Al Quaadir never recovered from, came courtesy of a thudding right to the body. The fight was stopped at the 2:57 mark of the first round.

Deano “Bad Newz” Burrell vs. John Passantino — 4 Rounds, Lightweight

In his highly anticipated professional debut, Deano “Bad Newz” Burrell (1-0, 1 KO) did not disappoint the tens of fans who traveled from London to North Bergen to watch him fight. For the four minutes and forty-four seconds Burrell was in the ring, he was dishing out punishment to Selden, New York’s John Passantino (0-2).

Burrell, a southpaw, battered his smaller opponent in the opening round, dropping him with a huge overhand left at the end of the round.

In the second round, Burrell picked up right were he left off, punishing his opponent with crackling body shots, ultimately forcing Passantino the drop to one knee. After beating the referee’s count, the spent Passantino backed into the ropes, where he became prey for a predator. Burrell pummeled Passantino until the referee stopped the bout at the 1:44 mark of round two.

Donald “Stone Face” Bernard vs. Rogilio Sanchez — 4 Rounds, Jr. Middleweight

In the night’s opening bout, Paterson, New Jersey’s Donald Bernard (2-0) was awarded a split decision victory over Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Rogilio Sanchez.

Sanchez forced the action the entire fight, always coming forward and pressuring Bernard. In a fight that was anything but a defensive clinic, both fighter’s had their fare share of success, but also put their chins to the test.

In the end, Bernard was awarded the split decision victory.

Judges Tony Perez and Pierre Benoist scored the bout 39-37 in favor of Bernard, while judge Alan Rubenstein scored it 39-37 in favor of Sanchez.