Smoger: Margarito was turning the fight around on Cotto when it was stopped

Referee Steve Smoger wished that Antonio Margarito had been allowed to come out for the 10th round in his recent loss to WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Smoger said he wanted to let him, but the ringside doctor stepped in and halted the fight due to Margarito’s rapidly closing right eye.

Smoger noted at the time that Margarito was coming on and saw the fight as changing. The doctor prevented what may have been another Cotto knockout loss by stopping the fight, because the bout was mirroring how the first fight transpired three years ago with Margarito coming on in the 10th, hurting Cotto and then stopping him in the 11th.

Smoger said to RingTV “I sensed a momentum shift [in the 9th round]. I saw him [Margarito] catch Miguel with a couple of shots on the ropes that had me saying, “Wow, his persistence is paying off.” And I would have loved to see him come out for the 10th.”

I saw the same thing in the 9th. Margarito caught Cotto with some beautiful shuts and seemed to stun him at one point with a left hand. Margarito continued to chase and batter a tired looking Cotto for the remainder of the round. It was clear that the fight momentum had completely changed and Cotto was going to be in trouble in the next couple of rounds. And that’s where it gets weird. This was a fight that took place on Cotto’s turf, you must remember.

The ringside doctor couldn’t have picked a worse time to step in and halt the fight if he tried. Had he stopped it in any other round it wouldn’t have been an issue, but it was so bad that he chose exact point in the fight when Cotto was mentally and physically beginning to cave in again.

The doctor was just doing what he felt was right, but I think he was too cautious and stopped the fight before Margarito could follow history and take Cotto out again. Obviously, if there is a rematch the fight cannot happen in New York because it needs to be in a neutral venue, and with a doctor that is a little more tolerant towards injuries.

I see this as a tainted victory for Cotto because it was stopped right when he was starting to take punishment and run out of gas. This was a 9 round fight that needs to be done over to find out who really is the best fighter. Cotto didn’t prove a thing.

Timothy Bradley: Peterson needs to let Khan whine and suffer, and fight me instead

Peterson and Bradley fought two years ago in December 2009 with Bradley beating Peterson by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-110, 119-108 and 120-107. 

Bradley told RingTV “I think he [Peterson] needs to leave Amir alone for a while and let him whine a little bit and let him feel it, because you know Amir don’t give nobody a rematch. I think that Lamont Peterson should come and see Tim Bradley, man and get some revenge.”

That sounds like a good idea, because Khan will still want to fight Peterson again whether he loses to Bradley or not. Peterson could get two title fights under his belt instead of just one. If he loses to Khan, then a Bradley fight will likely not happen. It might be a better option to take a payday fight against Bradley, if Peterson believes he can truly beat him this time. As soundly as Bradley defeated Peterson two years ago, I’m not so certain that Peterson would do any better in a rematch. Bradley really his number in that fight and hurt him on a couple of occasions.

Bradley is right about Khan not giving rematches to guys that he head. He doesn’t do it. Khan didn’t even do it when he was destroyed in one round by Breidis Prescott in 2008. Peterson is obviously a different story for Khan, because he can’t punch like Prescott, and is thus a less dangerous option.

Bradley signed with Top Rank recently and fought for the first time for them last month, stopping 40-year-old Joel Casamayor in the 8th round. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is grooming Bradley for a big money in house fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in the near future. 

to know more about this news visit boxingnews24.com

Heath Evans: Nick Saban once stepped over a convulsing player

Nick Saban has never been known as a laugh-a-minute fellow — the current head man at Alabama is wound about as tightly as any coach in recent history, and this was especially true when he coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006.


Assembling a  15-17 record wasn't good enough for the Nicktator, who headed back to the collegiate ranks and found an environment in which his particular brand of human interaction actually seems to work.
According to former NFL fullback and current NFL Network analyst Heath Evans, the worst example of Saban's impersonal approach happened in 2005, when he actually stepped over a convulsing player after a practice. Evans relayed the story on Miami's 790 The Ticket on Tuesday.

Does Cotto deserve a rematch against Pacquiao?

WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is starting to make noises about a rematch with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and even said that he thinks he can beat Pacquiao on Tuesday. Given that Cotto and Pacquiao fight for the same Top Rank stable, there is a very good chance that Cotto could end up facing Pacquiao sometime in 2012 if not in his next fight.

fight together with Floyd Mayweather Jr. That kind of leaves Cotto in a good position to get the Pacquiao fight, because he’s the best available fighter near the same weight class as Pacquiao in Arum’s stable. But does Cotto really deserve a rematch with Pacquiao? Their fight in 2009 was a terrible mismatch with Pacquiao stopping a battered Cotto in the 12th round. To be sure, Cotto has won his last three fights since then over Yuri Foreman, Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito.

Heading into contract year, Love likes Wolves direction

Kevin Love has used the extra offseason time created by the lockout to reshape his body, a grueling regimen that will have him reporting to training camp 25 pounds lighter than he was last season.

Entering the final year of his rookie contract, his bank account is poised to get a lot heavier.

Love worked out at the Minnesota Timberwolves facility on Sunday for the first time since NBA owners and players reached a tentative labor agreement, and he said he was encouraged by the changes the Wolves have made as he prepares to enter into talks on a contract extension.

"I love Minneapolis, I love the Twin Cities," Love said when asked if he hoped to sign a deal that would keep him here for the long term. "Really this is all I know. It's the first NBA city I fell in love with. This is all I know. Maybe we'll keep it that way, maybe we won't."

It's no secret that the All-Star forward, who led the NBA in rebounding last season and has emerged as the face of the franchise in the post-Kevin Garnett era, did not always see eye-to-eye with former head coach Kurt Rambis. The two clashed occasionally and Love was growing frustrated with his system, especially as the team lost 132 games over the past two seasons.

To know more about this article visit NBA.com

“I want Floyd for my next fight,” - Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines — Speaking from his lair in General Santos City, Manny Pacquiao declared that he wants no less than Floyd Mayweather as opponent.

“I want Floyd for my next fight,” Pacquiao said as quoted by his lawyer Franklin Gacal after asking his boss who he wants as his rival for his first fight in 2012.

Although the major players are frugal in making statements regarding negotiations, Gacal said something is going on the past few days, confirming the accounts of meetings being talked about by Top Rank head Bob Arum.

Arum said early this week that investment groups have approached him about putting up the mouth-watering match but did not go into details, saying it might jeopardize the project.

Gacal said they’re being updated on what has taken place and what are being discussed and are keenly awaiting the outcome of the said negotiations that are being kept under wraps.

Last week, upon his return to General Santos City, Pacquiao told the local media that talks have commenced to stage a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown that will go down as the richest in the history of the sport.
Pacquiao is coming off a hard-earned 12-round majority decision over Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico.

While Pacquiao told Marquez that he is not ducking a fourth fight with the master counter-puncher, the Filipino is convinced the time is now for him to face off with the brash American puncher.

“The Fight of the Century,” said Gacal, who is keeping his fingers crossed that Pacquiao-Mayweather finally happens next year after efforts to pair them together failed twice.

The major obstacles – random blood testing and revenue sharing – have reportedly been hurdled, paving the way for both parties to talk business.

Meanwhile, Representative Pacquiao plans to bring before the House of Representatives the dumping last weekend by alleged commercial fishing boats of tons of dead tuna along the Sarangani Bay.

Pacquiao, told reporters he would specifically present before the House’s Committee on Fisheries the results of an ongoing investigation on the incident by the local governments of Maasim and Sarangani. (With a report from PNA.

Source: Manila Bulletin -NICK GIONGCO