Bob Velin
249 articles · USA Today
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Donaire hurts hand, but wins split decision against Vazquez Jr.
By Bob Velin
Despite hurting his powerful left hand early in the fight, Nonito Donaire knocked down Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. once and outworked the Puerto Rican to win a split decision and the vacant WBC…
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Promoter stubbornness keeps Pacquiao-Mayweather from reality
By Bob Velin
GB and TR even co-promoted a few fights, including Top Rank's Cuban sensation, Yuriorkis Gamboa, against Golden Boy's Daniel Ponce de Leon, in September. And that came after a legal tug-of-war over…
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Boxing 2011: Tough fights draw awe, controversy
By Bob Velin
Instead, it became the Motor City Breakdown when the fight was stopped at the end of the 10th round after Alexander was cut for the first time in his career. He said…
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New York commission says Margarito needs eye test
By Bob Velin
The fight is a scheduled pay-per-view event on HBO. Margarito suffered a severe eye injury during his fight against Manny Pacquiao a year ago, including a fractured orbital bone. That required surgery,…
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Commission to decide Friday if Margarito can fight in N.Y.
By Bob Velin
Antonio Margarito's rematch against Miguel Cotto on Dec. 3rd is in jeopardy ? at least in its scheduled venue of Madison Square Garden. Top Rank, which is promoting the HBO pay-per-view title…
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Mega-talk about mega-fight: Will Mayweather-Pacquiao happen?
By Bob Velin
Not long after the final bell rang on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III welterweight title fight Saturday night, which ended in a majority decision for Pacquiao, the buzz began for the…
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Courage, grace, toughness: Tributes pour in for ‘Smokin’ Joe’
By Bob Velin
George Foreman, one of the hardest-punching heavyweights of all time, discovered exactly what kind of fighter Joe Frazier was when the then-undefeated boxers met in the ring for the first time on…
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Distraction-free, Nonito Donaire ready for spotlight
By Bob Velin
The "Filipino Flash" had recently come off the greatest performance of his career, an HBO-televised, spectacular second-round knockout of veteran Mexican bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel. But he soon found himself in the…
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Hopkins not ready to let young lion wrestle away his title
By Bob Velin
When Hopkins, 46, who spent nearly five years in jail, and Dawson, 29, meet in the ring at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 15 (HBO pay-per-view, 9p.m. ET), Hopkins will…
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Floyd Mayweather ends hiatus to fight Victor Ortiz on Sept 17
By Bob Velin
Undefeated Floyd Mayweather will end a 16-month hiatus from boxing to fight WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, the Las Vegas-based fighter announced on Twitter Tuesday. A site for the…
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CBS to air boxing: ‘Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley’
By Bob Velin
Boxing returns to network television for the first time in several years Saturday when CBS airs the premier of Showtime's boxing reality series Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley, at noon ET.…
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Round One in battle over Donaire goes to Top Rank
By Bob Velin
The bitter battle between boxing's two largest promoters, Top Rank and Golden Boy, over rising star Nonito Donaire got a little more bitter this week when arbiter Daniel Weinstein ruled that Golden…
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Gamboa plans to get his medal back
By Bob Velin
One night in December 2006, three Cuban national boxers slipped away from their hotel in Venezuela, where they were training for the Pan American Games, crossed the border into Colombia and eventually…
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‘Free agent’ boxer Nonito Donaire leaves Top Rank for Golden Boy
By Bob Velin
Nonito Donaire, the fast-rising boxing star and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, has left Top Rank Promotions to sign a multi-year agreement with Golden Boy Promotions, the organization…
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Mayorga insists his fists will do the talking
By Bob Velin
If trash-talking won fights, Ricardo Mayorga might be the greatest boxer of all time. Ricardo Mayorga, right, has been tossing around verbal jabs, calling Miguel Cotto and his trainer "failures and clowns."…
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Alvarez looks to claim title, remain undefeated
By Bob Velin
He is just seven months beyond his teenage years, but Saul "Canelo" Alvarez has already fought professionally 36 times. He has yet to taste defeat. Alvarez, 20, the red-haired, freckle-faced Mexican sensation,…
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Rios moves past faux pas to toughest fight of his career
By Bob Velin
The last time Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios was getting so much attention, it was the kind of spotlight he wanted no part of. Brandon Rios lands a punch against Omri Lowther during…
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Donaire hopes win vs. Montiel will be springboard to fame
By Bob Velin
The best Filipino fighter this side of Manny Pacquiao takes to the ring Saturday night for what is expected to be the toughest challenge of his career. Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire…
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Bob Arum disputes Mayweather’s claim
By Bob Velin
Undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been mostly quiet and out of the boxing picture since his arrest on domestic battery charges in September. Mayweather appeared in court last month to face…
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Undisputed King of promotion just keeps on ticking
By Bob Velin
He will turn 80 this year, and the electric hair, the most famous head of hair in sports history, is getting whiter every day. But Don King, who calls himself the "boxing…