Martinez laid out his cards early. He was loading up on looping wide shots from the opening bell. It looked to all be going asunder for Burns when after a positive start, Martinez dropped him towards the end of the first, forcing him to concede the round 10-8.

Burns maintained his composure, got right back to his boxing, and started to put rounds in the bank. Martinez was made to look crude and clumsy missing shots and being caught off balance. There was still this sense of foreboding that once the pace slowed down, Burns was going to get chewed up. That was what made this fight so captivating; Burns was thoroughly outboxing Martinez for the most part, but the champion had the ability to change the entire complexion of a round with one big flurry. Never was that more apparent than in the 7th, when he trapped Burns against the ropes and was pounding away with vicious shots, nearly prompting the referee to step in.

Both guys were exhausted from the 8th round on and it just became a matter of who could dig in and grit it out. Martinez, even fatigued and with weakened legs, maintained the ability to summon big power in to his punches. But what surprised me was how physically strong Burns was on the inside. He pushed the champion back in the clinch, and punished him with sharp uppercuts right to the chin.

I expected this fight to play out as a game of cat and mouse, but Burns showed that he could impose himself on the fight. He was able to box and fight when necessary, and Martinez never truly came to terms with it. Martinez set out his stall looking for a big KO shot, he overexerted himself trying to make it happen, and when it didn’t he had nothing to fall back on. The judges all scored it in favour of Burns 115-112, 115-112, 115-113. I had it 115-113. Congratulations to Ricky Burns on becoming the 12th Scottish world champion. It was a performance few believed he had in him.

This was a tremendous fight to kick off the new series, and we have another cracking championship bout next week when Jason Booth will try duplicate Ricky Burns heroics when he challenges Steve Molitor for the IBF super bantamweight title.

Burns can think of himself as fortunate to get this opportunity. He brings a 28-2 record into the fight with most of his wins coming against journey men and domestic level competition. The two times he stepped up in class he was beaten; dropping decisions to Alex Arthur in 2006 and Carl Johanneson in 2007.

He rides a 13 fight win streak into this bout. His best performance probably being the 7th round stoppage of a massively faded Michael Gomez last year. In his next fight after that, Burns went to hell and back with Irishman Kevin O’Hara in a fight I still feel he was lucky to get the nod in. Burns did, to his credit, upset former world title challenger Graham Earl in only his 9th fight as a pro. But tonight will definitely represent a massive leap in standard for him.

Martinez will be confident coming into this match up, and he has every right to be. He’s undefeated as a pro with a record of 24-0-1, and it was on his last trip to Britain that he won his world title by stopping Nicky Cook in the 4th round. Cook, for my money at least, is an altogether better fighter than Burns. However, we have to go back to that old cliche “styles make fights”. Cook mixed it with Martinez and ultimately got smoked. Burns presents a different sort of challenge for the Puerto Rican.

I love when a favoured champion goes on the road to take on the challenger in his home town. It creates this almost Rocky like dynamic. Burns goes into this fight as a serious underdog, but he does so with the support of the entire crowd. This may be the one shot he gets to fight for a world title. He will know this is all or nothing for him. For Martinez it’s just a routine title defense. For Burns this is the biggest fight of his life. You can be sure he will want to leave everything in the ring.

The Scot will have a reach advantage which he will need to put to good use if he’s going to stand a chance. Martinez is not impossible to hit. Cook tagged him frequently with his jab and badly staggered him with a left. Burns needs to establish his jab early, hit and move, and never let the smaller man find his stride. When he finds himself in close he needs to tie up, push off, and get back on the move. Martinez will definitely be the puncher in there. If Burns is forced to stand and fight this will not last long.

However, should Burns get off to a good start – steal a few of the early rounds – then this becomes very interesting. Then all of a sudden Martinez has a fight to chase. And maybe, just maybe, with the crowd willing him on to the finish line, Burns can see out the decision. Ricky has shown resiliency in the past, particularly against Johanneson, where he got off the canvas three times. There will be times tonight where he will have to call upon that same resolve if he’s going to make it through 12 rounds against someone with the finishing instincts of Martinez.

My gut feeling is this is just too big an ask of Burns. I think ultimately he lacks the power to deter Martinez, and will eventually find himself drawn in to a shootout he can’t win.
Martinez KO between 5-8.

Footage from weigh in **Here**

I refuse to watch the actual video because I don’t feel like seeing arrogance and ignorance on display. I don’t mind seeing either separately, but put it together, and I’d rather do something else.

But what this episode really speaks to Floyd Mayweather’s is social ignorance. Floyd Mayweather feels that he’s been attacked and now he attacks back, in the way he knows best.

One of the great things about Mayweather is his natural ability to instigate. Just look at his work in HBO’s inaugural 24/7 series with Oscar De La Hoya. That fight was going to be successful without Mayweather’s work, but he probably took that fight from successful, to out of this world successful. It’s still the single most purchased PPV event of all time.

Mayweather’s arrogance seems natural. He has the record and championships to back it up. But when he crossed racial boundaries in an ignorant way, something seemed off. There’s no need to condemn Manny Pacquiao in order to make himself look better. The fact that people are in both fighters’ corners is what makes this fight compelling. If Manny Pacquiao is at his greatest, and Floyd Mayweather is at his greatest, this fight will make both men more money than if the public feels less compelled to see them.

Thus, I don’t get Mayweather’s rant. Maybe that’s the true Mayweather. Maybe that was Mayweather on a bad day. But where is the filter? Where’s his manager to tell him not to get on a social media platform with no rules and show his bare ass out to the public?

There’s being racist and then there’s being ignorantly racist. As we all know, Manny Pacquiao is Filipino. But because Mayweather doesn’t understand the difference between Filipino, Japanese, or Chinese people, he hits him with the all Asian stereotype. I’m surprised he didn’t call him Oriental.

Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that mother f—– make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice.

It’s really sad that a man who has lived all his years in America, boxed for the United States in the Olympics, and made money fighting fighters of all races is so socially ignorant.

Lastly, I think this social media angle hasn’t been reported on enough. Some athletes who understand marketing and branding have been absolutely brilliant in using Twitter, Facebook, UStream, and whatever else is out there to reach their fanbase. The goal is to share information and hope that their fanbase tells others about them, thus increasing their reach. Among them are Chad Ochocinco, Shaq O’Neal, and even athletes who are lower on the celebrity totem pole like Phoenix Suns wing player Jared Dudley. They use these new tools to their advantage.

A major advantage in using Twitter is the ability to share and broadcast information without having to go through the media. It comes directly from their mouth, has their spin, and is usually pro sports and pro league. But in this instance, Floyd’s video isn’t helping the cause, it’s hurting the cause. And that goes back to who in boxing is in charge of making boxing better? Who is going to smack Floyd down for hurting his own popularity and boxing’s popularity? No one.

If the player is not accessible in your region **Click Here**

Gamboa 18-0 (15 KOs) is one of the most exciting guys in the sport right now. If you haven’t been following his career up to this point, I definitely recommend you catch this show.

Marquez will stay at 135 pounds for a possible fall fight with Michael Katsidis rather than move up to junior welterweight to attempt to become the first Mexican to win titles in four weight classes, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com on Wednesday after meeting with Marquez in Mexico City.

This is the right move for Marquez at this stage in his career. He showed against Juan Diaz that he still has a lot to offer at 135, but I think he’s probably reached his limit. I imagine Junior welterweight is just beyond him at this point, and a fight with the bigger, younger, and faster Amir Khan would probably be ill advised for the 37 year old.

They are now targeting November 27th as a potential date for the Marquez / Katsidas clash. It’s a fantastic match up between the two top guys in the division. Katsidas looked tremendous in his dispatching of Kevin Mitchell back in May. The Australian brawler never takes a backwards step inside the ring, and Marquez fights best under pressure. The styles should mesh perfectly, and what we might just get is one hell of a wild fight.

With Marquez now removed from the equation. this should in turn pave the way for the Khan vs. Marcus Maidana fight to be made for towards the year end. That’s should be another scorching title fight. Here’s hoping Bradley and Alexander can agree terms to, and then we can have the two winners face off and find out for definite who is the best 140 lb fighter on the planet. There’s much to look forward to in the coming months.

Could they make the decision to call the group stages at this point, and then have the Dirrell/Ward and Froch/Abraham match ups as the semi finals instead. Perhaps They could then rearrange the Green vs. Kessler fight for next year, and have the winner of that get the first shot at the Super Six champion.
We will definitely have more on this story as it continues to develop.

LONDON (Aug 23rd, 2010) On Friday 10th September, York Hall, Bethnal Green will host an exciting night of international boxing when former unbeaten Commonwealth champion John O’Donnell (Shepherd’s Bush / Galway) makes his U.S. “ShoBox: The New Generation” debut and takes on his toughest opponent in the ring to date over 12 rounds, New Jersey’s (USA) 1996 Olympic bronze medallist Terrence “Heat” Cauthen.
The current English Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (Manchester/Galway) will also make his ShoBox debut as the co-feature against an international opponent over 10 rounds. (Details on Tyson’s opponent will be announced shortly)
The O’Donnell and Fury bouts will be televised in America on SHOWTIME at 11p.m. ET/PT (same day delay). The event will also be shown in Canada on the Super Channel Network and the UK Broadcaster will be announced soon.

O’Donnell is a light welter with a 23-1 record. Fury is a huge heavyweight, who is undefeated in eleven outings as a pro. Both are British based fighters of Irish descent.

This is a really positive move. The British domestic scene is producing a constant stream of good fighters. It’s great to see these guys getting a head start when it comes to being introduced to the American audience.

Most of the top British stars like Hatton, Khan, Froch, and Haye only started to get US TV exposure after they were already world champions. Having a few televised showcases before they get to that level will go a long way in terms of creating a buzz about them, so that when the big fights do come, people are ready for them.

Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come and Showtime will continue to get behind these guys.

There was two main strikes going against Margarito. Firstly, Margarito has been sparing in America, and in doing so he was unknowingly violating the terms of his ban. The prosecution went hard on this point suggesting that both Margarito and new coach Robert Garcia were continuing to show disregard for the accepted standards. This ultimately was what decided the case.

The second point was over concern that a dangerous legal precedent could be set: in which the standardized punishment for tampering with hand wraps becomes a one year suspension. The commissioners feared this would not be a sufficient enough penalty to deter other fighters from trying to do the same thing in the future.

Several of the commissioners stated that they believed in the sincerity of Margarito’s appeal, but didn’t feel he had taken the adequate steps to demonstrate that he could be trusted with a license. They noted that the majority of fighters probably don’t know about the sparring permit rule, but Margarito was no longer grouped with most fighters, and needed to show he was making every effort possible to atone for his past mistakes. They recommended he return in a years time with significant evidence of his rehabilitation.

The lone member of the commission to vote in favour of the Tijuana Tornado said he believed the boxer was making a considerable effort to take responsibility for his career, and at 32 years old there was little point in having him sit out another year.

We don’t yet know how this will affect Margarito rumored November 13th bout with pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao.