Some months ago we saw a short but wonderful video of some loud-mouthed whipper snapper getting slept by a silent, stone-cold killer older gentleman. The video starts off with the loud dude shouting threats to the dapper and calm man standing some twenty feet away.

Then, the obnoxious, threatening guy walks over and gets in the face of the old guy only to promptly be hit and knocked out cold by a one-two combination. Before the idiot did walk over to get his come-uppance, voices from others near by warned him not to “go over there,” and also referred to the old man as “champ.” We wondered if the KO artist was who we thought it was but, being the responsible publication that we are, waited to get some type of confirmation that it was before publishing.

The Daily Mail over in the UK reports that the old-man bad ass int he video is none other than Rocky Lockridge, a former boxing champion who battled the best of the best during the 1980′s and early 90′s, including Julio Cesar Chavez, Roger Mayweather and Rafael Ruelas.

Ok, so Rocky isn’t really that old, but a long career in boxing and battling drug addiction don’t make you young by the time you’re in your 50′s. Besides, he appeared to be much younger than his assailant.

Oh yeah, we forgot to mention that Rocky knocked out that fool (and the drink out of his hand) all while wearing red pants and without his snap brim hat falling from his head. That’s some OG, super hero shiznit if we’ve ever seen it.

Today’s street fighting lesson, taters – If the guy you’re harassing stands at stares at you, without uttering a word and with total calm, and is wearing a fedora and gosh darned solid red pants, don’t down there. Leave that man alone.

- Elias Cepeda

Ten years ago, Nicauraguan boxer Ricardo Mayorga made headlines with two surprising wins over Vernon Forrest and his unique brand of arrogance complete with trash talk and post-fight, in-ring cigarette smoking. As most all champions eventually do, however, Mayorga would go on to lose and lose frequently.

He was in wars, got beat up and stayed probably boxed on for longer than was healthy. And then, he started talking shit about MMA and picking (verbally, at least) fights with its competitors. There was the Din Thomas fight that never happened and lots of ignorant talk before and after the non-event from Mayorga.

Well, the boxer finally got his MMA bout in yesterday and it was a strange one. Through two rounds, Mayorga got taken down, mounted and controlled easily. However, after defending a triangle choke attempt from his opponent, Mayorga landed a nice lil knee to his foe’s back that – by the guy’s reaction – must have been a dim mak or something.

By Oliver Chan

(Full disclosure – one of the staff members of Wai Kru is a family member of mine)

By now, we have all seen the tragedy in Boston. We have all seen their faces on the news. And we have all seen the tremendous acts of heroism, patriotism, and humanitarianism that reminds us that when it comes to good vs. evil, good shall always prevail. I grew up in Massachusetts, so it’s safe to say this had a surreal effect over me.

As Seth’s piece pointed out (not that it matters) one of these d-bags had previously trained at Wai Kru in Allston Mass. While MMA gyms are popping up all over the country at an alarming rate, this one is something to note as it is where former UFC fighters, John Howard and Sean Gannon currently train. Head trainer, Kru John Allan, who is currently in Thailand, sent this statement out when reached for comment sent this statement via Facebook message:

(I had no idea what image to use for this post, so since we’re talking about sports propaganda, let’s leave that to the experts. Props: sportspropaganda.com)

To be honest, I assumed that our coverage of the absolutely tragic Boston Marathon explosions would begin and end with the TD Garden singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Wednesday’s Boston Bruins game. It was a respectful tribute to the families of Monday’s victims, but let’s be honest, an MMA site shouldn’t provide continuous coverage of a story that has absolutely nothing to do with MMA. Post a quick tribute, freely acknowledge that it has nothing to do with MMA, and then back to our regularly scheduled programming, right?

If only it were that simple. Perhaps you’ve read that the suspects – Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – trained MMA [Author note: I'm not linking to other sites that have been claiming this, Google it if you're so curious]. Don’t bother looking for a professional record for either suspect, because it doesn’t exist. Neither does an amateur record. Or any proof that they were preparing for MMA bouts of any kind, for that matter.

So what made them “MMA fighters?” Tamerlan boxed, and briefly did so out of Wai Kru MMA. Dzhokhar wrestled in high school. And not that it matters, but even the extent of either of them belonging to an MMA gym has been exaggerated:

Berto (left) on his way to a unanimous decision victory over Luis Collazo

I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this scenario play out before.

Earlier in the week, ES Boxing News caught up with two-time welterweight boxing champion Andre Berto, and spoke to the former champ about the possibility of seeing him fight MMA. The question isn’t exactly posed to Andre without merit – current Bellator fighter James Edson Berto is his brother and his sister, Revelina Berto, is trying out for the co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter – even though it quickly becomes obvious that Berto is only a (very) casual fan of the sport. As in, he admits that he doesn’t know anything about MMA weight classes and possibly has Jon Jones confused with Anderson Silva (A Jon Jones/GSP super fight?).

Despite this, Berto claims to have spoken to Dana White about competing in the UFC – an idea that White was in support of. According to Berto, White was very complimentary of his boxing career, saying that he is “one of the only guys in boxing that keeps it alive” when they spoke.

(Only in a freakshow match like this would you hear an audience member ask “What’s he waiting for?” after approximately 4 seconds of fighting.) 

Yesterday, the world was introduced to a man by the name of Nick Capes (which based on his fighting style, we can only assume is a pseudonym for Greg “Ranger” Stott), a hapless marshmallow of a man who somehow found himself in a boxing match against former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards. The results were hilarious, not in the Mark Kerr vs. Ranger Stott kind of way, but in the Dan Severn vs. Shannon Ritch kind of way. Capes flopped is what we’re saying. He flopped hard. Capes flopped so hard, in fact, that he has since been indefinitely suspended from boxing in North Dakota, which should give him plenty of time to continue pushing the fighting style of RIP on methed out tweekers near and far. As TwinCities.com reports:

Combative Sports Commissioner Al Jaeger says a video review of the fight between Nicholas Capes and a much larger Ray Edwards clearly shows Capes was not hit before he dropped to the canvas. Officials are continuing to investigate.

By “continuing to investigate,” we assume they mean “emailing this video to their entire contacts list with a subject line reading Re: Fatty takes a tumble LOLZ.“

(Your move, Sonny Corleone.)

I have seen some incredible flops in my day, Potato Nation. I’ve watched nearly 1000 hours of World Cup soccer, I spent two summers in the 90′s at the Vlade Divac School of Basketball, and I even made it through the first 40 minutes of Cloud Atlas before I faked a stroke to get out of that God forsaken theater. But believe me when I say that nothing, nothing I’ve come across compares to the flop that took place during former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards’ most recent boxing match.

Edwards — who was released by the Falcons in November — was actually competing in his third professional boxing match last Saturday. But like Kimbo Slice and more notably Aleksander Emelianenko before him, the opponents being put before Edwards all seem to be suffering from various degrees of sudden onset narcolepsy. Here’s a video of Edwards’ second fight against Corey Briggs, a man I can only assume has since lost at least a foot to diabetes. And if you think that looked fishy, just wait until you see his most recent farce.

Video after the jump. 

(I swear to God, you guys, I’ve seen this image before.) 

Yesterday, I went a little off the beaten path and covered the world of professional wrestling, specifically Brock Lesnar’s re-signing with the WWE and subsequent F-5ing of company President Vince McMahon. Although the video was unquestionably hilarious, most of you guys (at least those who took the time to comment) were not able to set aside your MMA bias for even a second to enjoy it. And it’s a shame, because even if Air Force One is your all-time favorite film, does that mean you cannot occasionally enjoy the goofball satirical humor of Airplane? Please don’t delve any further into that terrible analogy, but of all the websites to cover the Lesnar story (and there were a few), I was kind of surprised that the audience of the “comedic” one had the least sense of humor about it.

So I’m not sure how you’ll take the news that TUF 10 veteran Kimbo Slice returned to the world of boxing last night, or the fact that we’ve decided to devote yet another article to it. On one hand, Kimbo is at least competing in a “real” sport after leaving the UFC. On the other, he is as tenuously connected to the world of MMA as Lesnar is these days, so perhaps we should just ignore him. On the third hand, Slice’s most recent fight against Australian-based journeyman Shane Tilyard was fucking awesome. As is usually the case in a Slice fight, things weren’t exactly pretty, but boy were they entertaining (for a round or so). For Christ’s sake, Kimbo attempted two takedowns in the fight. If you can’t appreciate that kind of irony, then we are just not the same kind of fight fans.

Video after the jump.

While most of you reading this were busy watching the UFC last night, boxing fans throughout the country tuned in to watch Pacquiao/Marquez IV. It’s still too early to tell which sport came out on top in terms of the ratings, but regardless, boxing fans were treated to a dramatic sixth round knockout from one of its greatest active fighters. And no, Pacquiao wasn’t the fighter dishing it out.

Juan Manuel Marquez arguably defeated Manny Pacquiao during their third meeting, but came up short on the scorecards, losing a majority decision. This time around, Marquez took no chances, knocking out Pacquiao with an overhand right with only one second left in round six. Pacquiao, who has now lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career (although the Bradley decision was pretty absurd), has no plans to retire, although we’ll have to wait and see what this loss does to his marketability.

Video awaits after the jump.

(Dang, Nate, tell us how you really feel.)

By Oliver Chan

On Saturday night, the sport of boxing goes head-to-head with MMA. No, I’m not talking about another freak-show like when the horribly overpaid James Toney fought the latest guy to be called out by Steven Seagal. (“Anybody seen Randyyyyy? Ah?”) I’m talking Pacquiao/Marquez IV vs. Diaz/Henderson. While the events aren’t really going head-to-head, per se — UFC on Fox starts at 8 p.m. ET, and should be finished by the time Manny and Marquez step into the ring on the HBO pay-per-view broadcast — how viewers tune in this Saturday will speak volumes of the current state of both sports.

In one corner, you have the UFC with a stacked card, but still struggling to live up to the hype as far as ratings go. In the other corner, you have boxing, the aging champ of combat sports. While struggling to stay relevant, it is still a dominant force with two bankable stars who won’t fight each other.

It is no mistake that the UFC has put together a PPV-worthy card to be aired free to the masses. You’ve got a title fight in what is arguably the most competitive weight class in the sport. You also have two legends of MMA taking on two young up-and-comers taking on the sport by storm. Come to think of it, the Penn vs. McDonald and Rua vs. Gustafsson fights are perfect analogies of what MMA is to boxing right now.

(Pacquiao vs. Marquez I, 5/8/04. Videos via HBOSports, props to BloodyElbow for the tip.)

In the lead-up to this weekend’s historic fourth meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, HBO Sports was kind enough to upload all three of their previous fights to its YouTube channel. That’s 36 rounds (and two-and-a-half hours) of some of the highest-level boxing that the sport has seen in the last ten years. Though each fight was decided on a razor-thin margin, Marquez has been unable to get his hand raised so far. Will the fourth time be a charm? And can this latest fight match up to the legendary history of the Pacquaio vs. Marquez rivalry?

Fights 2 and 3 are after the jump…

(Via HBOSports)

Recently we brought you episode one of HBO’s “24/7: Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV” documentary series. The third episode premiers Saturday night so it’s a perfect time for you to catch up and see episode two (above) if you haven’t already.

Other than the elusive white whale of a fight between PacMan and Floyd Mayweather Jr, a fourth fight between the Phillipine’s Pacquiao and Mexico’s Marquez is pretty much the only meaningful pound-for-pound match up in boxing right now. In the latest episode of “24/7″ we once again get uncomfortably close to Pacquiao and his wife Jinky’s embattled marriage and see up close and personal how the Marquez family has come up in the world.

We also get more from the two fighters’ trainers, Freddie Roach for Pacquiao and Ignacio Beristain for Marquez, two of the best and most famous in the sport. There’s Pacquiao dancing Gangman Style and filing for re-election for his congressional post in between Bible meetings, and Marquez starting his Mexico City training camp off early to fight off old age.

Check out Episode Two and then tune in to HBO Saturday night at 9:30EST for the third installment. If you miss that, we’ll have it published on CP later as well because we have to do everything for you guys.

- Elias Cepeda

(Props: YouTube/HBOsports)

Here in the Potato Nation we don’t take time to discuss boxing all too often. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t bring you HBO’s behind-the-scenes look at the next chapter of a rivalry that is already one of boxing’s greatest of all time.

On December 8th, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will fight one another for the fourth time in eight years. And no, this isn’t one of those boxing promoter scams where the same decrepit guys get rolled out in wheelchairs to fight one another, over and again, long after interest has died in the match up. Pacquiao and Marquez fill two of the top three pound-for-pound spots in boxing, in this writer’s opinion, and their first three fights have left fans clamoring for a fourth.

As episode 1 of this 24/7 documentary mini-series shows with footage and round-by-round analysis from the fighters, coaches and even a judge, all three fights were extremely close and could have gone one of three ways — a win for either man or a draw, as the first one did in May 2004. Since then, Pacquiao has gotten the nods, with a split-decision in 2008 and a majority decision last year.

Camacho (white trunks) famously knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard in 1997. Leonard retired after the fight.

Puerto Rican boxing champion Hector “Macho” Camacho, famous for his aggressive style and flamboyant behavior in and out of the ring, was declared dead earlier today in San Juan, four days after he and his friend were shot in a parked car in the city of Bayamon. Hector Camacho, who was taken off of life support earlier this morning, died of a heart attack shortly afterwards, according to Dr. Ernesto Torres of the Centro Médico trauma center. His friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno, died immediately.

Details regarding the shooting are still being kept quiet. However, police have confirmed that Mojica had nine bags of cocaine on him when he was shot and that a tenth bag was found open in the car. No arrests have been made, and according to police spokesman Alex Diaz, neither man was expecting the attack.

Inside the ring, ‘Macho’ Camacho was one of the greatest to lace up the gloves. After winning three Golden Gloves titles as an amateur, he turned pro and quickly became a contender due to his aggressive, albeit cocky style of fighting. With Don King promoting him, Camacho would go on to win his first world title, the WBC Super Featherweight Championship, on Aug. 7, 1983. He would vacate the title to move up to lightweight two years later, capturing the WBC lightweight title by defeating Jose Luis Ramirez on August 10, 1985.

(It’s never a good sign when the crowd actually *laughs* during the glove-touch. Props: crazycnote13 via MiddleEasy)

Former MMA superstar Kimbo Slice improved his pro boxing record to 6-0 (5 KOs) with a very quick knockout of Howard Jones, a Missouri-based “journeyman” who came into the match on a four-fight losing streak. Is it just me, or is Jones a dead ringer for Worst Fighters in UFC History nominee Greg “Ranger” Stott? (Maybe I’m just a racist bastard who thinks all pudgy white guys look the same. That’s certainly a possibility.)

The fight, which went down Saturday night at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma — which was also the site of Slice’s previous boxing wins over James Wade and Charles Hackmann — was essentially decided by just two punches. First, Kimbo lands a sharp left hook to the gut that forces Jones to take a knee. Shortly after, Kimbo lands an uppercut that convinces Jones to play dead until the ref finishes his ten-count.

Let’s just say that Kimbo will face quite the jump in competition if he actually fights Roy Jones Jr. in December. Up until now, Kimbo has played the role of the Kiai master, laying out his poor students with energy-bullets. I can’t wait to see what happens when he finally steps into the ring against an actual boxer.

If it wasn’t already crystal clear that former pound for pound boxing great Roy Jones Jr.’s near twenty-five year career had gone on for far too long, Thursday it was announced that he will fight Kevin ‘Kimbo Slice’ Ferguson in Jamaica in December. This fight that no one asked for and that no self-respecting athletic commission would sanction is apparently being made possible by something called Giomax Entertainment Company and Stewart’s Auto Sales.

Yup.

Jones went the first fourteen years or so of his professional boxing career without a real loss (He was disqualified for hitting Montell Griffin while he was down in 1997 and promptly KO’d him when they re-matched five months later) and dominated multiple weight classes on his way to being considered, at times, the world’s best boxer, pound for pound. But since 2004 Jones has gone 7-7, with four of those losses being ugly knockouts or TKO’s.

Pound for pound boxing champ Manny Pacquiao‘s next fight has been scheduled for December 8th, the same night as the UFC’s next Fox network show. In the recent past when the UFC has had big shows scheduled the same night as major boxing events they’ve has hoped that earlier telecasts on would catch many viewers who were planning on watching boxing later in the evening.

Things may not have worked out that way for the UFC and this development of Pacquiao fighting on a date that the UFC had already set as a Fox event might end up taking away viewers from the MMA programming. Last May, the UFC on Fox 3 featured an exciting card headlined by a spectacular title contender’s fight between lightweights Nate Diaz and Jim Miller. The free to watch event was also followed, on pay per view, by Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting Miguel Cotto.

The UFC’s numbers ended up going down from their prior two Fox shows, while Mayweather’s win had an excellent buy-rate on pay per view. The UFC’s “come pre-game with us before boxing,” strategy might be more successful this time around if Fox promotes the heck out of the event during football telecasts as it did last year for the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos heavyweight title telecast.

Otherwise, the UFC had better hope that Fox is taking a qualitative and long-view of things because dropping ratings on network television are never good.

‘Oh Africa Brave Africa’. It was… a laugh riot.

By George Shunick

Famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach recently appeared on MMAJunkie.com Radio, and he delivered the goods. Sure, he touched on Amir Kahn’s upcoming fight, Pacquiao, and certain MMA fighters, but none of that matters. Freddie Roach almost ate a man’s eye in a street fight. Not only did he do this, but he talks about it with the gleeful amusement more befitting a child recalling his favorite prank than a grown man describing how he used his teeth to transform another human being into an unwilling cyclops.

The conversation begins with Roach discussing Amir Khan’s fight against Danny Garcia, but quickly veers into MMA. At one point, Roach claims that one of the reasons that boxing has fallen behind MMA in terms of pay-per-view numbers is that “[boxing has] promoters that don’t like each other, and they bring their personal life into boxing.” Fortunately, MMA hasn’t had to suffer overly emotional promoters who hold grudges, so it’s still in good shape. Then Roach hits on a number of topics, including…

(Props: YouTube.com/AdamCarolla)

Unless you’re a devoted fan of Adam Carolla, you probably didn’t know that the famed TV/radio personality and podcaster got his start in the entertainment business after being hired as a boxing coach for Jimmy Kimmel back in 1994. Seriously. Before Loveline, The Man Show, The Celebrity Apprentice, and all the rest, Carolla was just a smart-assed carpenter who knew how to throw hands.

Urijah Faber was the guest for today’s installment of The Adam Carolla Show, which gave the two a chance to get in a focus-mitt session — with Carolla offering the California Kid some advice on his punching technique — ending in some mildly awkward shadow-boxing. With Faber’s UFC 149 headlining bout against Renan “The Streak” Barao scheduled for July 21st in Calgary, every advantage counts, right?

(“I feel bad for the fighters and the judges for being a part of perceived controversy, and I feel bad for Arum being falsely accused…but I’m glad there are passionate fans out there.”)

The June 9th boxing title fight in Las Vegas between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley ended in controversy after Bradley was awarded a split decision despite being routed in nearly every round. Last Saturday many more fans got to see the fight when it was replayed for free on HBO. The sanctioning body for the match’s title belt, the WBO, has announced that they are reviewing the fight, and promoter Bob Arum called for the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to be investigated after he himself was accused of somehow being involved in corrupting the judges decision.

Basically, it’s another mess for boxing and its beleaguered fans to sort through. We thought it would be a good time to check in with the Executive Director of the NSAC, Keith Kizer, to discuss judging in boxing, the controversial decision itself, how he saw the fight and what, if anything, the state commission is doing to review the fight.
- Elias Cepeda

CagePotato: Thanks for taking time to discuss judging in the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley bout. Before we get into that fight specifically, let’s set up some general context. Can you describe how judges are selected in Nevada? Not for specific assignments but overall. How does someone become a judge in Nevada?

Keith Kizer: There are three different ways, basically. Sometimes we bring in outside judges for events. For example, on that very card we had several judges from California. What happens in those instances is I’ll call [California State Athletic Commission Head] George Dodd and ask him to give me a couple names of great judges. He is really good about doing that for us. So what happens after that is I have those judges included on the list that I give to the sanctioning bodies and fighter camps, as I did with this event.

But we also have a regular roster of judges. Another way that people can become Nevada judges is when there might be somebody who is a world class judge but lived elsewhere and moved to Nevada. That doesn’t guarantee that they would be added to our roster, but when there is an opening sometimes they are chosen.

(“See, when boxers get knocked out, their eyes *close*. I rest my case.”)

By George Shunick

If you’re anything like me, chances are you’ve claimed that MMA is safer than boxing whenever some know-it-all claims that MMA is too dangerous to be legalized. (Well, I live in New York, so maybe I get into this argument more than most people.) But the case seems fairly logical; unlike boxers, a significant part of MMA training does not involve striking. Moreover, the type of striking found in MMA targets the full body of the opponent. Boxing only allows punches above the waist and takes place at a closer range, invariably guaranteeing more blows to the head. So it follows that since boxers are struck more in the head throughout months of training and in their fights than MMA fighters are, MMA is a safer sport for the brains of athletes.

Well, common sense and logic help a lot, but ultimately aren’t quite as authoritative as those pesky things called facts. Recently, Sherdog.com conducted an interview with Dr. Charles Bernick, who is in charge of a study of the brain health of professional fighters titled the “Professional Fighters Brain Health Study.” (Creative, isn’t it?) The study is conducted by the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas and is designed to last for four years. Its purpose is “to detect subtle changes in brain health that correlate with impaired thinking and functioning. If changes can be detected and interpreted early, there may be a way to reverse or soften trauma-induced brain diseases, like Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The study could also point regulators to specific markers in fighters’ brain scans that indicate a problem.”

When pressed if there is a discernible difference between the brain health of boxers and MMA fighters, Dr. Bernick responds:

(He doesn’t even get a Rita Hayworth poster?! This is inhumane!) 

Saying that the justice system of America is broken is like saying that a train with square wheels does not make for a great Christmas toy. If you need a few examples of how corrupted it has become, look no further than Hollywood. Robert Blake was able to get away with murdering his wife using the old “I was going to kill her, but someone did it first!” defense. O.J. Simpson got away with murder, but thankfully was dumb enough to find a way to wind up in jail anyway. And don’t even get us started on how Lindsey Lohan is still allowed to remain a part of normal, civilized society with the rest of us.

So when it was reported that Floyd Mayweather was already trying to weasel his way out of prison after less than a fortnight, we were already chalking up another victory for celebrities over justice like Frank Trigg commentating on a PRIDE-era Fedor fight. And for once, we’re glad to admit that we perhaps rushed to judgement on the state of America’s legal system, as Mayweather was not only denied the right to serve the remainder of his three month sentence under house arrest, but was basically told to quit being such a little bitch by the presiding judge.

(Solitary confinement: Still not as bad as salad-tossing.)

Just twelve days into his 87-day jail sentence for domestic battery, #2 pound-for-pound boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. (behind Timothy Bradley, obviously) is already begging to serve the rest of his term on house arrest, arguing that continued incarceration could jeopardize his entire boxing career. Oh boo-fucking-hoo. Here’s the Las Vegas Review Journal with the details:

An emergency motion obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows Mayweather’s lawyers will ask Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa as early as today that the former Olympic bronze medal winner be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence on house arrest.

The 35-year-old’s physical conditioning is deteriorating under the stress of being jailed at the Clark County Detention Center, and he is being held in “inhumane conditions,” lawyer Richard Wright said in the motion filed Monday.

The boxer is being segregated from the general population and confined to his cell 23 hours a day in a locked-down section populated by felony defendants, Wright said. And in the hour each day Mayweather is allowed in a recreation area, he is alone and unable to use training facilities.

(Timothy Bradley answers questions from his wheelchair victory chariot after “defeating” Manny Pacquiao by split-decision.)

Following the monumental screwjob in Saturday night’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley welterweight title match — a fight that veteran HBO boxing commentator Jim Lampley called the single worst decision he’s ever seen — promoter Bob Arum declared that would be no rematch between the two fighters unless Nevada’s attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto launched an investigation into a possible conspiracy. As he told Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole:

“I want to investigate whether there was any undue influence, whether the [Nevada Athletic Commission] gave any particular instruction and how they came to this conclusion…the whole sport is in an uproar. People are going crazy. If this was a subjective view that each of [the judges] honestly held, OK. I would still disagree, but then we’re off the hook in terms of there being no conspiracy. But there needs to be an independent investigation because it strains credulity that an event everybody saw as so one-sided one way all three judges saw it as close. It strains credulity.”

If I was Manny Pacquiao, I’d have no problem refusing the rematch in the first place. He beat Bradley, everybody saw him beat Bradley, and he gains nothing from pursuing a rematch outside of fulfilling a “revenge” storyline made possible by [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges. And speaking of [ALLEGEDLY] corrupt judges, here’s judge Duane Ford trying to justify his 115-113 tally of the fight in the challenger’s favor:

A montage of Bradley’s dominance. (Photo: www.pacquiaovideo.com)

By Steve Silverman

One of the worst things about boxing is the unpredictability of the human condition.

Such as when that human condition allows individuals called ‘judges’ to score a fight.

This should not be difficult. For those of us who remember when schoolyard fights took place between two individuals with fists and not weapons, it was fairly easy to tell who won the fight. The kid who left crying or had the bloody nose lost the fight. The kid who threw more punches and hurt his opponent won.

The same holds true in professional boxing. You are supposed to score each round after it is completed and then you add up the totals after 12 rounds. The fighter who wins the most rounds and therefore has the most scoring points is supposed to win the fight.

That is not what happened last night in Las Vegas when Manny Pacquiao seemingly dominated challenger Tim Bradley in their welterweight championship fight. You could easily give Bradley two rounds. You could make the argument that he did well enough to steal two more rounds if you wanted to be generous. But the other eight rounds belonged to Pacquiao.

More on this debacle after the jump.

(Is HBO really counting Bradley’s head-butting ability as one of his advantages against Pacquiao? Good grief. / Props: HBOsports)

By Steve Silverman

Timothy Bradley will get the chance of a lifetime on Saturday night when he faces Manny Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.. Which begs the obvious question…who the hell is Timothy Bradley?

To casual boxing fans, it may seem like the 28-year-old California native came out of nowhere. But Bradley — the reigning WBO and WBC light-welterweight champ — has been competing professionally since 2004, racking up an unblemished 28-0 record (with one no-contest) along the way. While that may be impressive enough on paper to make Bradley worthy of a title shot in the next weight class, a look at his boxing resume reveals that he has only knocked out 12 of his opponents. You can’t say Bradley doesn’t hit hard, but he hasn’t shown the ability to string punches together that lead to impressive KO performances.

Four years ago, Bradley was nearly out of the boxing business altogether. He and his then-girlfriend Monica were down to their last $11 when he flew to England in May 2008 for his first light-welterweight world title fight against Junior Witter — a situation made more desperate by the fact that he and Monica were caring for her two children. Things got pretty grim during those lean years:

(Yeah, I think he’ll fit right in.)

Today in Las Vegas, boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. finally went to jail for some shit he did two years ago. After being sentenced in December for beating the hell out of his ex-girlfriend then threatening her and their sons with further violence if they called the police, and then being allowed to remain a free man through May so he could make $32 million fighting Miguel Cotto — good lookin’ out, justice system! — Mayweather was scheduled to surrender before a Las Vegas judge today to start his 87-day jail term. Huffington Post passes along some details about his upcoming summer in the pokey:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be one of the richest prizefighters ever. But the unbeaten five-division champion who goes by the nickname “Money” is about to trade life in a posh five-bedroom Las Vegas home for almost three months in a cell about one-third the size of a small boxing ring…

As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather, 35, probably will serve most of his time in a small solo cell. There is floor space for sit-ups and push-ups. But Mayweather’s stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.

At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility, police Officer Bill Cassell said this week…

Speaking of things that happened last night that were laughably predictable, Kimbo Slice is still earning his bread as a professional boxer. Well, perhaps “earning” is the wrong word. Earning implies that he is making it by winning competitive matches against reasonably credible opponents. Really, $kala is just giving Kimbo his bread at this point. Or, if you’re cheesy enough to go there, Shaw is just feeding the guy.

I will say this much: At least last night’s fight wasn’t the (potentially-worked) shitstorm that was his last fight against Brian Green. After watching Kimbo get saved by the bell against a fitness instructor making his professional boxing debut on one day’s notice followed by his aforementioned bout with Brian Green, Shaw was taking absolutely no chances when searching for an opponent this time around.

By Steve Silverman

The specter of Manny Pacquiao looms over the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Miguel Cotto.

Not that Mayweather (42-0) and Cotto (37-2) aren’t capable of putting on a great show in their light-middleweight championship fight, May 5th in Las Vegas, but the boxing world is always transfixed by the best possible matchup. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao has headed that list for a long time.

The 31-year-old Cotto is the real deal and is capable of pushing Mayweather, 35, to the limit. An upset may be a real possibility. Not only does Cotto have sensational power, he is capable of launching a barrage with either hand.

The other factor working against Mayweather is that he may not respect Cotto as a fighter. You can tell that by the trash talk — of which there has been very little. The two fighters have been very respectful of each other and that’s very unusual for Mayweather. In one of the pre-fight press conferences, Mayweather spoke of his admiration for Cotto’s straight-forward and hard-hitting approach. He also used the opportunity to belittle Pacquiao, suggesting that he is barely paying attention to the opponent in front of him.

(in b4 shitstorm)

Is Jon Jones the “Greatest of All Time”? The latest issue of UFC Magazine might be trying to drop a subtle hint in that direction, with their Bones-in-a-pool cover taking inspiration from a classic photo of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. As Cagewriter explains:

Though it may seem early in Jones’ MMA career to make comparisons to Ali, it’s not too early for this picture. Flip Schulke took this iconic picture of Ali in 1961. It was just a year after Ali, still called Cassius Clay, won Olympic gold in Rome. He was a young man who was astonishing the boxing world with his power, speed and footwork. At the time, he was like no other boxer. In the early 60s, he won 19 straight bouts and seemed invincible. Does that remind you of anyone?

An apt comparison, or more fuel for the haters?