Lookit All 'Dem Champs

Here's a current list of the champions, according to the "major" sanctioning bodies. I'll spare you my usual rant about having so many different champs, and just present the data. I'll follow with my own picks below.

Key:
World Boxing Association (WBA)
World Boxing Council (WBC)
International Boxing Federation (IBF)
World Boxing Organization (WBO)

HEAVYWEIGHT - (unlimited)
WBC - Hasim Rahman 41-5-1 (33 KOs)
WBA - Nicolay Valuev 43-0-1 NC (31 KOs)
IBF - Chris Byrd 39-2-1 (20 KOs)
WBO - Lamon Brewster 33-2 (29 KOs)

CRUISERWEIGHT - (190 pounds)
WBC - O'Neil Bell 26-1-1 (24 KOs)
WBA - Virgil Hill 50-5 (23 KOs)
IBF - O'Neil Bell 26-1-1 (24 KOs)
WBO - Johnny Nelson 45-12-1 (29 KOs)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT - (175 pounds)
WBC - Tomasz Adamek 30-0 (21 KOs)
WBA - Fabrice Tiozza 47-2 (31 KOs)
IBF - Clinton Woods 38-3-1 (23 KOs)
WBO - Zsolt Erdei 23-0 (14 KOs)

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT - (168 pounds)
WBC - Markus Beyer 34-2 (13 KOs)
WBA - Mikkel Kessler 37-0 (28 KOs)
IBF - Jeff Lacy 21-0-1 NC (17 KOs)
WBO - Joe Calzaghe 40-0 (31 KOs) / Mario Veit 45-1 (23 KOs)

MIDDLEWEIGHT - (160 pounds)
WBC - Jermain Taylor 25-0 (17 KOs)
WBA Super Champion - Jermain Taylor 25-0 (17 KOs)
WBA - Maselino Masoe 26-2 (25 KOs)
IBF - Arthur Abraham 19-0 (17 KOs)
WBO - Jermain Taylor 25-0 (17 KOs)

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT - (154 pounds)
WBC - Ricardo Mayorga 28-5-2NC (23 KOs)
WBA - Alex Terra Garcia 25-1 (24 KOs)
IBF - Roman Karmazin 34-1-1-1 NC (21 KOs)
WBO - Sergei Dzindziruk 31-0 (21 KOs)

WELTERWEIGHT - (147 pounds)
WBC - Carlos Baldomir 42-9-6 (12 KOs)
WBA - Luis Collazo 26-1 (12 KOs)
IBF - VACANT
WBO - Antonio Margarito 32-4-0-1 (23 KOs)

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT - (140 pounds)
WBC - Floyd Mayweather 35-0 (24 KOs)
WBA - Ricky Hatton 40-0 (30 KOs)
IBF - Ricky Hatton 40-0 (30 KOs)
WBO - Miguel Ángel Cotto 25-0 (21 KOs)

LIGHTWEIGHT - (135 pounds)
WBC - Diego Corrales 40-2 (33 KOs)
WBA - Juan Diaz 27-0 (13 KOs)
IBF - Jesus Chavez 42-3 (29 KOs)
WBO - Diego Corrales 40-2 (33 KOs)

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT - (130 pounds)
WBC - Marco Antonio Barrera 61-4-1 NC (42 KOs)
WBA - Vicente Mosquera 21-1-1 (10 KOs)
IBF - Marco Antonio Barrera 61-4-1 NC (42 KOs)
WBO - Jorge Rodrigo Barrios 44-2-1-1NC (32 KOs)

FEATHERWEIGHT - (126 pounds)
WBC - Takashi Koshimoto 39-1-2 (17 KOs)
WBA Super Champion - Juan Manuel Marquez 44-2-1 (33 KOs)
WBA - Chris John 36-0-1 (20 KOs)
IBF - Valdemir Pereira 23-0 (15 KOs)
WBO - Scott Harrison 25-2-2 (14 KOs)

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT - (122 pounds)
WBC - Israel Vazquez 39-3 (28 KOs)
WBA - Mahyar Monshipour 27-2-2 (18 KOs)
IBF - Israel Vazquez 39-3 (28 KOs)
WBO - Daniel Ponce De Leon 27-1 (25 KOs)

BANTAMWEIGHT - (118 pounds)
WBC - Hozumi Hasegawa 19-2 (6 KOs)
WBA - Wladimir Sidorenko 18-0 (6 KOs)
IBF - Rafael Marquez 34-3 (30 KOs)
WBO - Jhonny Gonzalez 31-4 (27 KOs)

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT - (115 pounds)
WBC - Masamori Tokuyama 31-3-1 (8 KOs)
WBA - Martin Castillo 30-1 (16 KOs)
IBF - Luis Perez 23-1 (15 KOs)
WBO - Fernando Montiel 32-1-1 (24 KOs)

FLYWEIGHT - (112 pounds)
WBC - Pongsaklek Wonjongkam 58-2 (31 KOs)
WBA - Lorenzo Parra 27-0 (17 KOs)
IBF - Vic Darchinyan 24-0 (19 KOs)
WBO - Omar Narvaez 20-0-2 (14 KOs)

JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT - (108 pounds)
WBC - Brian Viloria 18-0-1 NC (12 KOs)
WBA - Roberto Vasquez 21-1 (17 KOs)
IBF - Ulises Solis 20-1-1 (15 KOs)
WBO - Hugo Cazares 22-3-1 (16 KOs)

STRAWWEIGHT - (105 pounds)
WBC - Eagle Kyowa 15-1 (6 KOs)
WBA - Yutaka Niida 19-1-3 (8 KOs)
IBF - Muhammad Rachman 49-7-3 (21 KOs)
WBO - Iván Calderon 24-0 (5 KOs)

Paul's Picks:

HEAVYWEIGHT - (unlimited) Hell, I don't know, but I think that the best of them is probably Lamon Brewster, though it's a tough call, seeing as none of them have fought the others, but I'll say this--none of them could beat Lennox Lewis in his prime, Vitali Klitschko, nor any of the top-flight heavyweights of the 1970's thru 80's.

CRUISERWEIGHT - (190 pounds) O'Neil Bell....he beat the hell out of Mormeck, and that makes him the man.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT - (175 pounds) I've seen Adamek fight, and he looks impressive, but I don't know enough about this division to say anything certain.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT - (168 pounds) I think that Jeff Lacy is great, but I haven't seen enough of any of the others to say anything for certain.

MIDDLEWEIGHT - (160 pounds) Jermain Taylor is the man who beat Hopkins (the first fight was iffy, but the second fight was certain). That's what counts. I'm very curious to see where his career goes.

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT - (154 pounds) Again, I haven't seen all of these guys fight, but both Mayorga and Dzindziruk look to be pretty good, though I've only seen Dzindziruk fight once.

WELTERWEIGHT - (147 pounds) Out of respect for his domination of Zab Judah, I will recognize Baldomir as the champion, but once Mayweather moves up to this division, Floyd'll be the man.

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT - (140 pounds) Floyd Mayweather for certain, though I am also very impressed with Hatton. I would like to see them fight, or either fight Cotto.

LIGHTWEIGHT - (135 pounds) If Corrales can beat Castillo this time (assuming that Castillo makes the weight), he'll deserve the nod. Of course, if Juan Diaz dispatches of my favorite Mongolian, Lavka Sim, a second time, he certainly deserves some recognition. I don't think that Chavez is really that good.

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT - (130 pounds) Barrera has two of the belts, but he'll lose them as soon as he steps into the ring with Manny Pacquiao again. Pacquiao demolished him once, and will do it again, if given the chance. There's nobody at this weight who can beat Pacquiao right now.

FEATHERWEIGHT - (126 pounds) Has to be Juan Marquez, unless Chris John Beats him on March 4th.

I know nothing at all about the lower weight classes, except that I like Eagle Kyowa's name.

What do you think?

Gatti Whups Damgaard....What Happens to the Welterweights?

Story here.

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti, known to black fans as "that bleedin' white boy" pulled out some new tricks to go along with his old-fashioned "stand there and let him hit me, and maybe I'll hit him, too" strategy. Floyd Mayweather beat that method out of him last June. Gatti actually fought a smart fight, and did not appear to bleed at all, though it is said that he broke his often-injured right hand on his way to an 11th round TKO win (and I want to congratulate the ref, Lindsay Paige, who made a very smart stoppage).

Buddy McGirt, Gatti's trainer, coached and prepared Gatti well. Damgaard appeared confused throughout much of the fight, as was I, who had never seen Gatti fight such a "smart" fight.

Gatti switched back and forth from southpaw to right-handed stances, and did a bit of actual boxing, though he still did not display a terribly good offense, and very little in the way of defense. The weaknesses in Gatti's style (namely hand speed and defense) weren't exploited by Damgaard, because Damgaard didn't have the power to hurt Gatti, who certainly does not lack in "chin". Most first-tier welterweights will not have that problem, and I don't think that Gatti will have his alphabet-belt long.

With his win, Gatti won the largely insignificant IBA welterweight belt. Boxing is first and foremost a business, so this "champion versus champion" will likely be enough to justify a big PPV event with him fighting Carlos Baldomir (who became my favorite Argentinian when he humiliated Zab Judah, stripping him of his belt earlier this month--too bad Carlos didn't pay the other licensing fees, or he'd be the undisputed champion). The winner of this fight will probably fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr, after "Pretty Boy Floyd" beats the tar out of Zab Judah in May (which should happen, because, even though Judah is complaining about the money, he doesn't really have any better option).

How will Gatti do against Baldomir?

Baldomir does not have great speed or power, but he is a tough and fundamentally sound fighter with a good defense. Gatti could do well against him, especially if he is able to land his power punches and dictate the pace of the fight. With Gatti's undisciplined style, it is quite likely that Baldomir will be at an advantage if he establishes his jab, weathers Gatti's flurries of haymakers, and the fight goes the distance.

I'll certainly pay to watch Gatti/Baldomir, though I likely won't pay to see Mayweather pound the winner into the dirt, unless there is a good undercard. I like watching Mayweather, but against either of those guys, it will be a 6-round or shorter beat-down. He IS that much better. Talent-wise and style-wise, I'd like to see Mayweather fight Ronald "Winky" Wright, instead of any of the welterweights, though that might be a mismatch due to Wright's bigger size. I just don't know if there is a compelling fight for Mayweather right now, unless he fights Ricky Hatton, Miguel Angel Cotto, or Jose Luis Castillo. Hatton is probably at his ideal weight for now, so I don't see him moving up at this stage in his career. Cotto might also give Mayweather a bit of a challenge, but I'm not expecting this fight to happen as it wouldn't be too much of a draw. Castillo, as shown by the debacle of his last fight with Corrales, needs to move up to light-welterweight, as he can't (or won't) make the lightweight requirements. Hatton and Cotto might give Mayweather a good fight (my money's on Floyd), but Mayweather would likely roll over Castillo.

Catchin' Up...

Most of you guys didn't make it to last Saturday's boxing/pork extravaganza, which is unfortunate. We had a blast watching the HBO PPV which was headlined by Pacquiao/Morales II.

In the opening rounds, it looked very much like their first fight, with Manny Pacquiao being more active and Erik Morales being more accurate. Pacquiao's punches were harder, though, as evidenced by the mis-called second-round knockdown (Morales had to grab the ropes to stay up, so it should've been ruled a knockdown) and Morales's badly broken nose.

Morales was leading up through the fifth round on all three cards, but Pacquiao then took charge. Manny had expanded his arsenal since their last meeting, and he was now throwing right hooks, body shots, and uppercuts. His powerful straight left was no longer his only big punch.

Morales, as always, stayed game throughout, trying to control the tempo with his excellent jab. This worked in the early rounds, until Pacquiao's body shots put Morales on the defensive. Both men have strong chins, and few would have lasted against either of them that night. At the end of the sixth round, Pacquiao scored a near knockdown, with Morales again saved by grabbing the ropes and having his fall broken by running into the referee.

Erik came out strong in the seventh, at one point pinning Pacquiao against the ropes with a flurry of precision punches. Pacquiao "turtled up", but did not seem to be rocked by those punches. Pacquiao worked out of the situation, and then resumed his assault on Morales, landing two strong punches for each of Erik's.

In the eighth round, Morales' badly broken nose was starting to look as natural as an East German female olympian. Erik continued to fight back, however, preventing Manny from all-out attack with strong right-handed jabs and counter-punches, even rocking Manny once. It was clear that Morales was slowing, and that Manny's body shots were taking their toll.

In the ninth round, it became clear that Morales was going to be knocked out, and, to his shame, Morales actually ran from Pacquiao in the ninth's final seconds. In the fights that I've seen, Morales had never backed away from his opponent, and the commentators confirmed this. Of course, Morales has never been abused like this, either.

Morales came out strong in the tenth, firing his left jab, holding his right hand cocked low. It looked as if he knew he couldn't survive until the twelfth, and was trying to set up a big right for the knockout. He threw a few big rights, but they didn't land. In the second half of the round, Pacquiao was moving into a purely offensive mode. After a big Morales miss, Pacquiao landed a few body shots which he followed with a left to the side of Morales' head, staggering Morales, who then fell to all fours. Morales, ever the smart fighter, stayed down until the nine count before standing, giving himself the best chance of recovery. Unfortunately for Erik, it didn't help as Manny jumped on him, finishing him off in a matter of seconds.

Folks are providing a lot of reasons for the change from the past fight. Some include:

**Pacquiao was allowed to use the gloves of his choice, which is the less-padded Reyes glove.
**Pacquiao had rid himself over his disgrace of a promoter, Murad Muhammad.
**No cut over Pacquiao's eye, as in the last fight (from an accidental headbutt).
**Morales' will broken by his one-sided loss of Zahir Raheem last September.
**Turmoil in Morales' camp, as Erik fired his father as trainer after the Raheem loss.

It was a great fight, but I don't expect to see a rematch, at least not at 130lbs. Manny is probably fighting over his ideal weight, and Morales is probably fighting below his. I don't think Morales will do well moving up in weight, however, so it may well be that his days as a headliner are over, though he could have some success earning a paycheck. Morales has been a great fighter, but it looks like his era of dominance is over.

Pacquiao will be fighting for a belt soon, possibly against Marco Antonio Barrera, who he knocked out a few years back (and who has also beaten Morales twice by decision). Pacquiao is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but I hope that he doesn't try to move up in weight, as he is probably best suited to be fighting in the featherweight division.

Zab Judah Loses Title to Underdog Carlos Baldomir

I think I hate the former undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah. In the pre-fight, he was amazingly rude and unprofessional, bumping, and then punching Carlos Baldomir in the groin during the referee's instructions. I've never seen such a thing. Judah had previously left Baldomir waiting a long time in the ring while he preened for his hometown fans. I was hoping he would suffer the same fate as Corey Spinks, when he did the same thing to Judah last year. My hopes came to pass.

Judah showboated, but generally seemed to control the fight through the first six rounds, which included an "accidental" headbutt that looked very intentional, breaking and bloodying Baldomir's nose.

In the seventh round, Baldomir rocked Judah with several right hands, leaving Judah stunned and running like a scared girl. I was surprised. The eighth round was more of the same. Judah seemed to recover a bit in the ninth, but Baldomir was definitely surging. This surge carried him on through the twelfth round, Baldomir winning each.

Judah's father/trainer and Don King expressed displeasure with the decision. The ringside journalist panel had scored Judah winning the fight, which I find amazing. They must be King stooges. The announcers scored it as I did, five of the first six rounds to Judah, the last six to Baldomir, with the seventh being at 10-8 round.

Unfortunately, Baldomir only paid the sanctioning fees to the WBC (not all three organizations), so he isn't the undisputed champion on paper. The IBF and WBA belts are now vacant. I'm guessing that Judah's planned April 8 fight with Floyd Mayweather will not be happening. A Kostya Tszyu rematch, perhaps, as Tszyu gave Judah one of his previous losses.

I was very pleased with the decision, though I was disappointed that Showtime was showing the fight on a recorded delay. Bad form.

Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion!!!

Not since Evander Holyfield's prime have you heard the words "Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion", but you're hearing them now. O'Neil Bell just knocked out France's Jean-Marc Mormeck in the tenth ugly round of their bout. Bell fought with a loose style, consistent with his yoga and meditation-filled training, though much of the fight played to Mormeck's strength, which is inside fighting on the ropes.

Starting in the fifth round, Bell began moving and landing better, as Mormeck started to fade. This fade was exacerbated by a low blow by Bell. Mormeck continued to land hard punches, but Bell demonstrated the chin to shrug them off, and returned 2-3 punches for each of the Frenchman's.

Bell's chin let him survive Mormeck's series of 2-shot salvos, but I say that conditioning was the deciding factor. Mormeck came into the ring magnificently muscled, but he was poorly conditioned for a twelve-round fight, while the post-fight Bell looked ready for another 10 rounds.

This fight was often sloppy, and referee Wayne Kelly let both fighters rabbit-punch, throw elbows, and shoulder one another about like amateur sumo wrestlers. Not my favorite fight, but it was entertaining, and I'd watch either guy fight again.

Emmanuel Steward's New Year's Resolution

Emmanuel Steward's plan is to make Wladmir Klitschko the #1 heavyweight by the end of 2006. I don't think that this will happen, but ya never know.

Wlad had been written off by most fans after his KO losses to Lamon Brewster and Corrie Sanders. His tough win over Sam "The Nigerian Nightmare" did a lot to renew the boxing public's interest, and it certainly helps to be training with Steward.

I'm inclined to root for Wlad---hey, he's the only big-time heavyweight left with a PhD, ya know---, but the guy does have a glass jaw, and I just don't see him consistently beating first-tier competition.

ShoBox 2006 Starts Strong

It's off to a great start. Raul Martinez went up in class to super bantamweight, and defeated Andres Ledesma, winning with an impressive 8th round (scheduled for 8) knockout. Martinez showed much better technique, and a lot more power, knocking Martinez down twice in the 3rd.

Ledesma acquitted himself well, though, landing several good combinations. One of Ledesma's punches opened a cut that probably would have stopped the fight were it not for masterful work by Martinez's corner. Ledesma is certainly no first-tier fighter, but he's no tomato can, either.

The second bout, between undefeated welterweight prospect Joel Jair Julio and Robert "The Doctor" Kamya, has been anticipated as a sure-fire knockout. Julio has won the vast majority of his fights with early knockouts, and Kamya's career has been less than stellar. Though he's won his last few fights, Kamya has been viewed largely (and accurately, imho) as cannon-fodder for Julio's statistic-generating machine.

In the first round, Julio rocked Kamya with a right-handed counter-punch that almost spun Kamya around, and though Kamya rose to fight back, Julio showed himself to be the better, stronger, and more disciplined fighter, knocking Kamya into semi-consciousness at 1:32 of round 3. The early speculation is that Kamya suffered a broken jaw from the powerful left hook that essentially ended the fight. There were a few lighter punches before Kamya fell, but the left hook removed all signs of resistance from Kamya.

With it's practice of matching up largely unknown prospects, ShoBox takes a chance at having laughable, bad, fights. Tonight's first fight was very good, and the second was an impressive rout. If you have Showtime, it was free, and well worth the price.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Showtime match-ups, featuring Mormeck v Bell and Judah v Baldomir.

Say It Ain't So, Joe....

It looks like Joe "Baby Joe" Mesi is going back into the ring, with plans to fight the "recently-less-than-stellar" Vassily Jirov. Jirov's rabbit punch is thought to have led to Mesi's little problem with brain bleeding (technically, he developed a subdural hematoma), which is said to have expanded when Mesi helped a friend move some furniture.

Mesi has generated a lot of press, being a white, undefeated heavyweight. I've never seen him fight, but from what I've read and heard he had proven himself a legitimate contender, knocking out DaVarryl Williamson, and beating Jirov and Monte Barrett.

Baby Joe's website here.

other stories here, and here.

Schedule Update

This is supposed to be every sanctioned bout that is currently scheduled. Most of these will not be televised.

January 5 (Thursday), 2006
At The Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA
Vicente Escobedo (7-0) vs. Jefferson Rodriguez (20-7)

In Munich, Germany
Armin Dollinger (11-0) vs. Ralf Riemer (5-1)
Denis Simcic (12-0) vs. Mircea Telecan (5-10-2)
Vilmos Balog (8-0) vs. Baker Barakat (0-0)
Omar Diatta (3-0) vs. Dimo Tani (1-4)
Fabian Martin (3-0) vs. Ion Strejoiu (0-3)
Max Gusset (3-0) vs. Ralf Sawetzki (0-3)



January 6 (Friday), 2006
At Cicero Stadium in Cicero, IL
(Showtime) Joel Julio (25-0) vs. Robert Kamya (15-5)
(Showtime) Raul Martinez (12-0) vs. Andres Ledesma (13-1-1)
Miguel Hernandez (17-3) vs. Butch Hajicek (4-4-1)
David Pareja (6-1) vs. Derek Andrews (3-1)


At The Santa Ana Star Casino, Bernallio, NM
(Telefutura) Jose Santa Cruz (20-1) vs. Michael Lozada (19-2-1)
(Telefutura) Giovanni Segura (11-0-1) vs. Valentin Leon (18-13-2)
Vincent Garcia (9-3) vs. Fernando Chacon (3-8-1)

In Rio Cuarto, Argentina
Fabio Moli (32-5) vs. Carlos Roldan (12-4)
Jorge Miranda (16-0) vs. Guillermo de Jesus Paz (13-7-2)
Ulises Lopez (9-1) vs. Francisco Sanabria (2-10-3)



January 7 (Saturday), 2006
At Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
(Showtime) Zab Judah (34-2) vs. Carlos Baldomir (41-9-6)
(For The Ring Magazine World Welterweight Championship)
(WBC, WBA, and IBF Welterweight belts)
(Showtime) Jean Marc Mormeck (31-2) vs. O’Neil Bell (25-1-1)
(For The Ring Magazine World Cruiserweight Championship)
(WBC, WBA, and IBF Cruiserweight belts)
Will Grigsby (18-2-1) vs. Ulises Solis (19-1-1)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Jr. Flyweight vs. #6)
(IBF Jr. Flyweight belt)
Gernaro Garcia (34-4) vs. Ricardo Vargas (39-11-3)
(The Ring Magazine #6 Bantamweight vs. #8)
Sergei Lyakhovich (22-1) vs. TBA
NEW Steve Cunningham (18-0) vs. Lloyd Bryan (21-11)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Cruiserweight vs. Unranked)


At Die Kulturhalle, Munich, Germany
Ruslan Chagaev (18-0-1) vs. Rob Calloway (56-5-1)
Stipe Drews (29-1) vs. Antonio Brancalion (25-5-2)
Grigory Drozd (23-0) vs. Pavel Melkomian (19-0)
Dimitri Sartison (13-0) vs. TBA


At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Takahiro Aoh (9-0) vs. Richard Carrillo (24-4)
Jorge Linares (18-0) vs. Jeffrey Onate (29-21-6)



January 9 (Monday), 2006
In Yokohama, Japan
Eagle Kyowa (14-1) vs. Ken Nakajima (14-2)
(The Ring Magazine #4 Minimumweight vs. Unranked)
(WBC Minimumweight belt)
Katsushige Kawashima (28-4) vs. Phetchaklongphai Soh Dharnthip (4-9)
NEW Hiroshi Matsumoto (15-4-3) vs. Kazuma Kumada (10-3)



January 10 (Tuesday), 2006
In Beaumont, France
Lahcene Zemmouri (12-7-1) vs. Alain Bonnel (10-9)



January 13 (Friday), 2006
At The A La Carte Event Pavillion, Tampa Bay, FL
Edner Cherry (18-3-2) vs. TBA

At The National Guard Armory, Philadelphia, PA
Luis Alberto Santiago (18-7-1) vs. TBA
Max Alexander (6-0-1) vs. TBA
Richard Stewart (6-1) vs. TBA



January 14 (Saturday), 2006
At The Brondby Halle, Copenhagen, Denmark
Mikkel Kessler (36-0) vs. Eric Lucas (38-6-3)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Super Middleweight vs. Unranked)
(WBA Super Middleweight belt)
Maxim Nesterenko (44-8-2) vs. Christian Bladt (29-7-1)
Rudy Markussen (31-1) vs. TBA
Martin Kristjansen (14-1-2) vs. TBA
Martin Nielsen (13-0-1) vs.T BA

At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Keita Manabe (22-2-1) vs. Yusuke Kobori (15-2-1)



January 17 (Tuesday), 2006
At The Sherman Street Event Center, Denver, CO
Anthony Mora (14-0) vs. Roberto Valenzeula (34-17-1)
Adrian Mora (14-0-1) vs. Joe Hutchinson (33-4-2)
Hector Saez (7-3) vs. Feliciano Rios (6-3)
Marvin Cordova (6-0) vs. TBA
Jose Morales (1-0) vs. Manny Sanchez (2-1)




January 19 (Thursday), 2006
At The Excel Center, Saint Paul, MN
Matt Vanda (34-1) vs. TBA
Michael Grant (41-3) vs. TBA
Rafael Pineda (38-6) vs. TBA
Julio Cesar Garcia (34-2) vs. TBA



January 20 (Friday), 2006
At Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket, CT
(ESPN2) Valdemir Pereira (22-0) vs. Fahproakob Rakkiatgym (52-3)
(IBF Featherweight belt)


At The Voinovich Center, Columbus, OH
Chad Van Sickle (20-2-2) faces Mike Alexander (11-0)

At The National Guard Armory, Pikesville, MD
Jed Phipps (16-3) vs. Dan Whetzel (6-5-1)
Tony Cygan (9-0) vs. Billy Lyell (9-2)
Devin Vargas (7-0) vs. Chris Riley (4-3-1)




January 21 (Saturday), 2006
At The Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
(PPV) Erik Morales (48-3) vs. Manny Pacquiao (40-3-2)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Jr. Lightweight vs. #3)
(PPV) Martin Castillo (29-1) vs. Alexander Munoz (28-1)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Jr. Bantamweight vs. #5)
(WBA Jr. Bantamweight belt)
(PPV) Kelly Pavlik (27-0) vs. Jose Luis Zertuche (17-2-2)
Zahir Raheem (27-1) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #6 Lightweight vs. Unranked)
Juan Manuel Lopez (8-0) vs. TBA


At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroyuki Enoki (23-0-1) vs. Denthakusin Sunkilaroinai (4-2)
Motokazu Abe (14-2-2) vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe (11-2)



January 27 (Friday), 2006
At The Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City, NJ
(PPV) Muhammad Rachman (50-7-4) vs. Omar Soto (15-2-1)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Jr. Bantamweight vs. #8)
(IBF Stawweight belt)
(PPV) Virgil Hill (49-5) vs. Valery Brudov (30-0)
(PPV) Nate Campbell (27-4-1) vs. Francisco Olvera (14-2)
(PPV) Stevie Johnston (37-3-1) vs. TBA
Prince Badi Ajamu (24-2-1) vs. TBA
Brian Minto (23-1) vs. TBA
Mike Arnaoutis (15-0-2) vs. TBA

At TBA, Chicago, IL
(Telefutura) Marco Antonio Rubio (32-2-1) vs. Aslanbek Kodzoev (16-1-1)

At The Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, FL
(Telemundo) Shannon Briggs (45-4-1) vs. TBA
(Telemundo) Jair Jimenez (22-3-1) vs. Cecilio Santos (18-5-2)
Gilberto Reyes (18-2-1) vs. TBA




January 28 (Saturday), 2006
At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
(HBO) Arturo Gatti (39-7) vs. Thomas Damgaard (36-0)
(The Ring Magazine #6 Jr. Welterweight vs. #5 Welterweight)
Jason Litzau (16-0) vs. TBA

At The Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
Markus Beyer (33-2) vs. Alberto Colajanni (18-0)
(The Ring Magazine #4 Super Middleweight vs. Unranked)
(WBC Super Middleweight belt)
Cengiz Koc (23-1) vs. Paolo Vidoz (20-2)

At Resort Paradise, Cancun, Mexico
Rodel Mayol (21-0) vs. Lorenzo Trejo (24-12)
(The Ring Magazine #10 Strawrweight vs. Unranked)
Jorge Arce (42-3-1) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #6 Flyweight vs. Unranked)

At The Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, England
Michael Jennings (28-0) vs. Young Muttley (19-1)

In TBA, Belgium
Oleg Platov (19-1) vs. Chauncy Welliver (28-3-3)



January 29 (Sunday), 2006
In Fukuoka, Japan
Injin Chi (30-2-1) vs. Takashi Koshimoto (38-1-2)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Featherweight vs. Unranked)
(WBC Featherweight belt)



February 2 (Thursday), 2006
At The Fisher Building, Detroit, MI
Jonathon Banks (9-0) vs. Michael Word (3-0-1)
Octavio Lara (5-2) vs. TBA



February 3 (Friday), 2006
At The Qwest Arena, Boise, ID
Kenny Keene (49-3) vs. Luke Munsen (17-4)
Cleveland Corder (33-3) vs. TBA

At The Orleans Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Verquan Kimbrough (14-0) vs. TBA



February 4 (Saturday), 2006
At The Don Haskins Center, El Paso, TX
(Showtime) Jose Luis Castillo (53-7-1) vs. Diego Corrales (40-3)
(For The Ring Magazine World Lightweight Championship)
(WBC & WBO Lightweight belts)


In Panama City, Panama
Rosendo Alvarez (36-2-2) vs. Eduardo Rivas
(The Ring Magazine #7 Flyweight vs. Unranked)
Celestino Caballero (23-2) vs. Roberto Bonilla (23-6)
(The Ring Magazine #3 Jr. Featherweight vs. Unranked)

At TBA, Germany
Michel Trabant (41-2) vs. Michele Orlando (30-4-2)
Jurgen Brahmer (26-0) vs. Andre Thysse (19-4)

At The Orleans Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Z Gorres (21-1-1) vs. Samuel Lopez (17-3)
Arturo Quintero (14-3) vs. Czar Amonsot (13-1-1)

At The Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA
Chad Broussard (53-4) vs. Homer Gibbins (43-13)
Bobby Aucoin (15-0-1) vs. John Temple (6-10-2)



February 10 (Friday), 2006
At TBA, Winnipeg, Canada
Chad Brisson (20-2) vs. TBA
Matt Gemby (6-1) vs. TBA
Cody Hanna (3-0) vs. TBA
Marcus Jones (1-0) vs. TBA
Cory Houston (1-2-2) vs. TBA

At Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
Justo Sencion (23-3) vs. TBA
Pasqual Rouse (16-11-3) vs. TBA
Ann Saccurato (10-1-2) vs. TBA
Bryant Pappas (3-0) vs. TBA
Maureen Shea (3-0) vs. TBA


At The Pavilions, Plymouth, England
Scott Dann (23-2) vs. James Obede Toney (20-1-1)

At The Schuetzen Park, North Bergen, NJ
Henry Crawford (8-0-1) vs. TBA
Danny McDermott vs. TBA



February 11 (Saturday), 2006
At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Rikiya Fukuhara (17-1-1) vs. Toshimitsu Sakai (17-3-1)



February 17 (Friday), 2006
At The Riveredge Restaurant, Reading, PA
Keenan Collins (8-1-1) vs. TBA



February 18 (Saturday), 2006
At The Aladdin Casino, Las Vegas, NV
(PPV) Antonio Margarito (32-4) vs. Manuel Gomez (28-10-2)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Welterweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Welterweight belt)
(PPV) Brian Viloria (18-0) vs. Jose Antonio Aguirre (33-4-1)
(The Ring Magazine #5 Jr. Flyeight vs. #7)
(WBC Jr. Flyweight belt)
(PPV) Ivan Calderon (24-0) vs. Isaac Bustos (24-7-3)
(The Ring Magazine #3 Minimumweight vs. #6)
(WBO Minimumweight belt)
(PPV) Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (23-0-1) vs. Carlos Molina (8-1-1)

At The Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
Alex Arthur (21-0) vs. Ricky Burns (13-0)
(The Ring Magazine #8 Jr. Lightweight vs. Unranked)
Willie Limond (27-1) vs. Steve Murray (24-4)

At The Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA
Jimmy Lange (26-2-1) vs. Joey Gilbert (10-1)



February 24 (Friday), 2006
At The Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood, FL
NEW (PPV) Glen Johnson (43-10-2) vs. Danny Santiago (27-2)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Light Heavyweight vs. Unranked)

At Dover Downs Slots, Dover, DE
Rodney Jones (36-3-1) vs. Raul Frank (27-4-2)
(The Ring Magazine #9 Jr. Middleweight vs. Unranked)

In TBA, Spain
Pedro Miranda (36-4) vs. Francisco Nohales (12-10-4)



February 25 (Saturday), 2006
At Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV
(PPV) Fernando Vargas (26-2) vs. Shane Mosley (41-4)
(The Ring Magazine #4 Jr. Middleweight vs. #3 Welterweight)
(PPV) Jhonny Gonzalez (31-4) vs. Mark Johnson (44-4)
(The Ring Magazine #4 Bantamweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Bantamweight belt)
(PPV) Calvin Brock (27-0) vs. Zuri Lawrence (20-10-4)
(The Ring Magazine #7 Heavyweight vs. Unranked)

At The ExCeL Center, London, England
Danny Williams (34-4) vs. Matt Skelton (18-0)



February 27 (Monday), 2006
At Central Gym, Osaka, Japan
Masamori Tokuyama (31-3-1) vs. Jose Navarro (23-1)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Jr. Bantamweight vs. #7)
(WBC Jr. Bantamweight belt)



March 4 (Saturday), 2006
At The MEN Arena, Manchester, England
(Showtime) Joe Calzaghe (40-0) vs. Jeff Lacy (21-0)
(For The Ring Magazine World Super Middleweight Championship)
(WBO and IBF Super Middleweight belts)
Johnny Nelson (45-12-2) vs. Enzo Maccarinelli (22-1)
(The Ring Magazine #4 Cruiserweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Cruiserweight belt)

At TBA, USA
(HBO) Miguel Cotto (25-0) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #2 Jr. Welterweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Jr. Welterweight belt)

At The Golden Gate Arena, Tenggarong City, Indonesia
Juan Manuel Marquez (44-2-1) vs. Chris John (36-0-1)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Featherweight vs. #7)
(WBA Featherweight belt)
Gairy St. Clair (37-3-2) vs. Orlando Salido (23-9-2)
Tony Fernandez (17-0) vs. Alexander Bajawa (6-0)
Leed Shabu (7-7) vs. Virgo Warouw (3-10)

At The EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Germany
Arthur Abraham (19-0) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #3 Middleweight vs. Unranked)
(IBF Middleweight belt)



March 11 (Saturday), 2006
At TBA, USA
(PPV) Roy Jones Jr. (49-4) vs. Bernard Hopkins (46-4-1)
(The Ring Magazine #3 Light Heavyweight vs. #2 Middleweight)

In Hamburg, Germany
Luan Krasniqi (28-2-1) vs. TBA

At The Newport Sports Centre, Newport, England
Gary Lockett (25-1) vs. Ryan Rhodes (34-3)
Tony Doherty (15-0) vs. Taz Jones (8-3-3)



March 18 (Saturday), 2006
At TBA, Atlantic City, NJ
(HBO) James Toney (69-4-2) vs. Hasim Rahman (41-5-1)
(The Ring Magazine #3 Heavyweight vs. #2)
(WBC Heavyweight belt)

At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Satoshi Kogumazaka (24-6-3) vs. Katsunari Takayama (16-2)



March 24 (Friday), 2006
At The Seminole Hard Rock Arena, Hollywood, FL
(ESPN2) Dale Brown (35-4-1) vs. Felix Cora
(The Ring Magazine #7 Cruiserweight vs. Unranked)



March 25 (Saturday), 2006
At TBA, USA
(HBO) Marco Antonio Barrera (61-4) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #1 Jr. Lightweight vs. Unranked)
Fernando Montiel (32-1-1) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #4 Jr. Bantamweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Jr. Bantamweight belt)



March 31 (Friday), 2006
At King's Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Carl Froch (17-0) vs. Brian Magee (24-2)



April 8 (Saturday), 2006
At The Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
(PPV) Floyd Mayweather (35-0) vs. TBA
(The Ring Magazine #1 Jr. Welterweight vs. Unranked)
(WBC Jr. Welterweight belt)

At Cabaret du Casino de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Otis Grant (38-2-1) vs. Librado Andrade (22-0)
(The Ring Magazine #8 Super Middleweight vs. #10)



April 16 (Sunday), 2006
In Shizuoka, Japan
Nobuaki Masuda (22-3) vs. Junichi Ebisuoka (13-8-2)



May 06 (Saturday), 2006
At TBA, USA
(PPV) Oscar De La Hoya (37-4) vs. TBA



(All bouts are subject to change)

Thoughts on 2005

I haven't actually gotten around to composing my 2005 wrap-up post, but here's one. I don't agree with much that the guy has to say, but he is entertaining.

The next fight that we'll be hosting is the Pacquiao/Morales re-match on 1-21-6. Unlike the guy I linked to above, I think that Pacquiao will win convincingly. Morales will be out to prove himself after having Zahir Raheem hand him his ass, but I still say Pacquiao will prevail. Pacquiao should be coming into this fight in better condition than last year's brawl, in which he dominated early only to fade after his initial flurry. Be here, or be squeer.