Danny Sandoz & Aaron Gosciilo at the Gym

 

Boxer Timothy Bradley: Too Much Fun Against Lamont Peterson?

Boxer Timothy Bradley: Too Much Fun Against Lamont Peterson?Timothy Bradley vs. Lamont Peterson was a great 2009 fight. Peterson has had one sucessful comeback fight and needs to make a date for another. Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley is on the hunt for greater glory and just might find it.

The July 17 matchup between Tim Bradley and Luis Carlos Abregu will be broadcast on HBO’s Boxing After Dark. HBO rightly bills the junior middleweight match between California’s Alfredo Angulo (18-1, 15 Kos) and Joachim Alcine (32-1, 19Kos) as a “co-main event.”

Rabbi Foreman Loses Title to Mourning Miguel Cotto

I like both these fighters, and I have a bitter feeling about Cotto's loss to Margarito. I fear Cotto took an unnecessary beating from Margarito who may have stored plaster in his gloves.

But I didn't expect Foreman to last so long against Miguel Cotto, who was mourning the death of his father, but has tremendous heart and coping skills.

According to the New York Times (not coverage I usually read but not bad, on the whole) story, Foreman stayed even with Cotto, who had gone up a weight class to take Foreman's title.

Foreman gets considerable street cred for his travails and his life's tale. Too bad he had to leave Israel to get proper gym time. That's too bad. Word to Bibi--support a boxing program. He went to New York and worked in the garment district for $200 bucks a week, according to the NYT.

Foreman was interviewed on Fox News a day before the fight. It wasn't the most exciting interview because the geeky guy who interviewed Foreman made the usual trite noises that TV people do when interviewing boxers. But Foreman was affable, a bit reticent, as he told his story in brief.

Seems like a win-win for Miguel Cotto, for Yuri Foreman, for Yankee Stadium. The ninth round TKO came as a surprise when Foreman slipped and aggravated an existing leg injury. Unable to move on his legs, Cotto did what he was supposed to do, crushing his opponent and ending the fight.

I like one of the refreshingly honest quotes from Foreman after the fight. Foreman didn't take a knee in talking about the leg injury (made no excuses in other words)

"“I’m a world champion,“And now, I’m a former world champion. But when you have a title, you never quit. I didn’t want it to be stopped.”

The quote is from the New York Times, story by Greg Bishop. The link is provided in the text and the article is well worth reading.

Danny Sandoz v. Anthony Cintron

 

Danny at Work: Pedone's Gym

 

Danny "Super" Sandoz working out at Brian Pedone's Heavy Hitters Gym in Stroudsburg. Danny's kept faith with the boxing while others have tailed off into...whatever.... His weight still hovers around 115 but he looks better, more muscled up, and his boxing skills are sharp. He's got a match scheduled for this weekend in Philadelphia and expects to go to the Ringside Tournament in Missouri during the summer.

Floyd Mayweather Fighting Manny Pacquaio in November?

That's what Larry Merchant is saying anyway, and he says he has some sources for expressing that opinion. According to Merchant, Pacquiao is accepting Mayweather's terms for steroid and similar testing 14 days before a scheduled fight.

This needs to happen because PacMan didn't look so hot fighting a sluggish Joshua Clottey recently. Clottey seemed as if were worried about catching germ from Manny Pacquaio so infrequently did he punch at his opponent.

Clottey was content to protect himself and try the occasional KO punch but even seemed to lack enthusiasm for that. I think Mayweather's far the better fighter, and his showing against Sugar Shane Mosely proved he had a chin.

So....this fight has to come off because there is no alternative to Mayweather and it's the fight everyone wants to see. My prediction, unfortunately, is that Pacquiao's people are playing with perceptions, and that they'll find some reason for the fight to take place.

So whom would you believe? Me or Larry Merchant? (Don't answer that one.)