Dan Rafael
1,538 articles · USA Today
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De La Hoya shies away from retirement talk
Oscar De La Hoya announced his exit strategy from the ring at the beginning of 2008. After a glorious 16-year professional fighting career, De La Hoya was making plans for retirement. Speaking…
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Pacquiao to move up two weight classes to fight De La Hoya
The notion of the fight began in October 2007 merely as a fantasy in the fertile mind of HBO broadcaster Larry Merchant. On Thursday it became reality. After weeks of on and…
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Roach’s idea on how to split the dough
Although the proposed Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao super fight is hanging by a thread, at least there is still life left in the negotiations for what would easily be the biggest…
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Drama surrounds De La Hoya-Mora
You gotta love the fight before the fight. In boxing, it's typical that before the bell rings to begin any big fight, there's a lot drama and maneuvering just to make the…
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De La Hoya turns attention to Mora after Pacquiao talks fail
Unwilling to compromise with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao on the percentage of the revenue he would receive for a proposed Dec. 6 megafight, Oscar De La Hoya is moving on. De La…
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De La Hoya-Pacquiao talks bog down over revenue split
As Howie Mandel asks contestants each week on his hit game show: Deal or no deal? No deal, it appears. A week after face-to-face negotiations began for a Dec. 6 megafight between…
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Golden Boy, Top Rank reps formally open negotiations
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank's Bob Arum met Wednesday and formally opened negotiations for a Dec. 6 megafight between Oscar De La Hoya, boxing's biggest star, and pound-for-pound…
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De La Hoya-Pacquiao talks to intensify next week
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank's Bob Arum will meet in Los Angeles on Wednesday to try to hammer out an agreement for Oscar De La Hoya to meet…
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Margarito’s next opponent won’t be Williams
In the wake of Antonio Margarito knocking out Miguel Cotto last week in a fabulous fight, attention has quickly turned to the next fight for the "Tijuana Tornado." Who will Margarito face…
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Arum says talks underway for showcase Macau fight
For the past few years, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has talked wistfully about putting on big boxing cards in Macau, the burgeoning Chinese gambling mecca that rivals Las Vegas. Arum has…
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Voracious Pacquiao hungry for shot at De La Hoya
Immediately after new pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao finished wiping the floor with David Diaz to win a lightweight title June 28, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum began making plans for Pacquiao's next…
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Arum the optimist
Your weekly random thoughts ? ? Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told me the other day the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz lightweight title bout did between 225,000 and 250,000 buys on HBO PPV.…
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Time for Joe Cortez to find another nickname
Your weekly random thoughts? ? Regarding referee Joe Cortez's miserable handling of last Saturday's Humberto Soto-Francisco Lorenzo fight: He was neither fair, nor firm. Soto, who was disqualified in the fourth round…
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All hail the new king
LAS VEGAS -- Top Rank promoter Bob Arum likes to joke that Manny Pacquiao is so good that maybe someday he could challenge heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Arum is obviously kidding, but…
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Arum’s Top Rank signs flyweight titlist Donaire
LAS VEGAS -- Flyweight titleholder Nonito Donaire, who split with promoter Gary Shaw earlier this month claiming he didn't deliver the number of fights he was owed under their contract, signed Thursday…
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Pacquiao fight a dream come true for Diaz
The U.S. Olympic boxing team won only one gold medal in 1996. That belonged to David Reid, who would go on to win a junior middleweight world title. But the squad also…
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Lopez lambasts normally durable Ponce De Leon with KO in Round 1
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Add Juan Manuel Lopez to the roll call of Puerto Rican champions. Following in the footsteps of such notable star champions from the island as Felix Trinidad and…
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Guzman gives up junior lightweight belt
Joan Guzman, tired of waiting for his delayed junior lightweight title defense against Alex Arthur to be rescheduled, vacated his 130-pound title and will move up to lightweight, a representative of promoter…
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March a slam dunk for boxing
Sure, this time of year is called "March Madness" because of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but the name fits pretty well for boxing this year. What an incredible month it's been.…
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Diaz deal with Golden Boy runs through December ’10
Juan Diaz and Golden Boy Promotions, together at last. Eighteen months after manager Willie Savannah announced that Diaz, then a free agent following the expiration of his contract with Main Events, would…
