Boxing

WBC light-welterweight champ Junior Witter was so confident heading into Saturday’s bout against Timothy Bradley that Witter already was making noise about next facing British rival Ricky Hatton. Witter’s plans have changed. Bradley, in his first professional fight outside his native California, had amassed a perfect 21-0 record, but he had never been tested at the highest level. But the sizable betting underdog  shocked Witter with a split decision in Nottingham, England. "He kept talking about Ricky Hatton," Bradley said of the days before the fight. "He was not really ready for the show ahead. He was fit enough but his mind was on Ricky Hatton and not on me.” Bradley, 10 years younger than the ...

WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev has been forced to pull out of his May 31 rematch against Nikolai Valuev due to illness. The fight has been rescheduled for July 5. "Ruslan Chagaev suffers from a protracted virus infection," said his physician, Dr. Michael Ehnert, in a statement. "In medical terms it's a viral laryngitis and pharyngitis. For non-doctors, it's a highly feverish viral infection of the upper respiratory tract with heavy symptoms. The medical treatment makes it absolutely necessary that he stop training." It is the second time that Chagaev has pulled out of a defense because of illness. He was scheduled for a unification fight against then-titleholder Sultan Ibragimov eight months ago but withdrew because of ...

Oscar De La Hoya showed he could still beat a contender. Next up is cashing in again like a champion. In what was little more than a tuneup for a much bigger fight, De La Hoya kicked off his retirement tour Saturday night before an appreciative crowd by pitching a near shutout over a game but overmatched Steve Forbes. De La Hoya got a chance to shake off ring rust and put on a show in front of his hometown fans, who came out in big numbers to cheer him on against a fighter whose previous biggest claim to fame was losing in the final of the "Contender" reality series. He didn't disappoint, battering the smaller Forbes around on ...

Ruslan Chagaev is expected to defend his WBA heavyweight title against Nikolai Valuev on May 31. The announcement from Universum Box-Promotion came after the company won a WBA-ordered purse bid in Panama to gain control of the mandatory fight. Last April, Chagaev (23-0-1) pounded out a decision against the 7-foot Valuev, stripping the Russian giant of his WBA title. Since the loss to Chagaev, the 7-foot, 320-pound Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) has won two fights. One victory was a lopsided decision against Jean Francois Bergeron in September while the second was a shutout decision against former titlist Sergei Liakhovich in an elimination bout that earned him the rematch. This is just another reason boxing is ...

Who says sports aren’t important?  Well, Saturday night’s Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez is very important in the Philippines.   In fact, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has declared a seven-hour unilateral ceasefire in its campaign against communist insurgents on Sunday to give troops time to watch the fight of local hero Pacquiao, the chief of staff said.  The suspension of offensive military operations (SOMO) will start at 8 a.m. and will end at 3 p.m., General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said in a phone interview Saturday.  "I suggest that they also watch the fight," Esperon said jokingly of the communist New People's Army (NPA).  Esperon said he declared a SOMO so that "the conduct of soldiers is clear" during ...

One of the best fights of 2007 was the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor middleweight title fight, when Pavlik, who had been knocked down and almost out in the second round and was trailing on all three scorecards, rallied to knock out the unbeaten Taylor in the seventh round to win the WBO and WBC belts.  Taylor had ruled the division for nearly two years, successfully defending his title four times, all against former world champions, including Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright, Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks.  Yet along came this relative unknown from Youngstown, Ohio, who stood up to Taylor in a bout full of plenty of toe-to-toe action.  And Taylor again plans plenty of pressure in Saturday night’s rematch in Las ...

Former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor says the reason he lost to Kelly Pavlik last time was simple: He underestimated the challenger. Saturday on HBO pay-per-piew, Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) will get his chance against Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs), the man who violently snatched the title from him with a dramatic seventh-round knockout in Atlantic City, N.J., in a rematch at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Taylor, +145 for this fight on WagerWeb.com, feels he took boxing for granted and did not do the preparation necessary in the fights leading up to his Pavlik defeat and sees it as a wake-up call. Having been ahead on the judges' scorecards when Pavlik stopped him and himself ...

Carlos Quintana’s huge upset of Paul Williams to win the WBO welterweight title on Saturday night seriously affects the futures of both men. Quintana is now a serious player in the welterweight division, while Williams’ must regroup and, at best, hope for a rematch. Promoter Lou DiBella said Quintana is going to take a much needed rest and then return to action around June or July. DiBella would be willing to make a rematch with Williams, but doesn't think Williams should continue his career in the welterweight division. Williams weighed 146.5 at the weigh-in on Friday and came to ring at 164 pounds. "Carlos is going to take a rest and then we want to get him ...

Undefeated WBO welterweight champ Paul Williams (33-0, 24 Kos) makes the first defense of his belt Saturday night against Carlos Quintana (24-1, 19 KOs) in a scheduled 12-rounder on HBO from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif. Williams impressively took the belt from Antonio Margarito in July 2007; Quintana's only defeat came at the hands of Miguel Cotto - but it was a lopsided one. Williams has a 5-inch height and 10-inch reach advantage over Quintana, the WBO’s 10th-rated contender, and is the big betting favorite. Don’t tell that to “El Indio”. "I was not born to lose. I want to be champion,” Quintana said. “This is my opportunity to claim the title. It ...

Following his unanimous decision victory Saturday night over Felix Trinidad, what is next for Roy Jones? He has set his sights on a matchup with Joe Calzaghe, the unbeaten 168-pound champion who's fighting Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas on April 19. "I'm definitely looking to make that fight," Jones said. "I'll fight anybody, anywhere, any time, and if Hopkins-Calzaghe finishes how I think it will, I'll even go to Wales and fight. I don't care."I would fight Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Chad Dawson - I don't care," Jones said. "Let me tell you one more time, my time, my probation period is over. I don't care who he is." The most money would come against the winner ...