Hello dear readers of 8CN, welcome to the midweek hiccups where I try to give all the boxing news and updates of the week in a single binge (hic). Here are the week?s most interesting stories which me and my friends talked about while having a pint (actually, it?s more like 10 glasses). Enjoy!
Saturday Night?s Action Heroes
If you are a big Erik Morales fan, I?m pretty sure that the Las Vegas betting odds are breaking your heart. With only 2 days left before Morales? day of reckoning, Las Vegas bookers have installed Marcos Maidana as the 4 to 1 favorite going in Saturday?s Action Heroes main event. Maidana is not a household name like Morales but it seems that the betting public knows their boxing well? or not quite well I suppose. Being 4-1 favorite doesn?t always mean that having this huge advantage automatically makes the favorite the winner. In fact, there are also some marquee matchups wherein the underdog has prevailed, such as Mosley-Margarito and Dela Hoya-Pacquiao (remember?). Anyway, I?m not saying that Morales is going to win or anything, it?s just that I thought the 4-1 underdog status of Morales may be a little too conservative. The margin should have been much wider than this like it should be at least 6-1 or 7-1 for Maidana. But still, I?m rooting for Morales to survive and that nothing bad happens to him after the fight. But what if Morales wins?
Cotto versus Margarito 2 in the works?
Miguel Cotto was in Las Vegas this week to support his younger brother?s match against the very soft spoken Paulie Malinaggi and was also present during the final press conference of the Morales-Maidana fight, along with some beautiful Tecate ladies. He was coming off with an impressive showing against Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga last month and will most likely return in July to face an opponent who gave him his first career loss; Antonio Margarito. The Cotto-Margarito 2 showdown (or rematch if you like to put it that way) will be an interesting event considering the history of both fighters after they first met 3 years ago. But my only concern is will the fans embrace this fight like their first encounter? I guess we just have to look at the Pacquiao-Margarito fight and let Bob Arum?s magic work its way around, again.
Some more hiccups?
British star Amir Khan?s title defense against Paul McCloskey, which was originally slated for Sky Box Office pay-per-view, was moved to Sky Sports 3 and enraged Khan?s entire team. This bold move by the executives of Sky Sports was due to the reasons such lack of firepower (or star-power) in the undercard, both Manchester City and United are playing in London in fight week, and Sky’s apparent unwillingness to accept the standard of the overall fight. If these are the reasons why Khan and his team are furious, you are dead wrong. King Khan?s purse was supposed to be around in the vicinity of ? 1 million and without Sky?s PPV, 70-80 percent will be removed from his purse. That would really make anybody mad?
Freddie Roach have recently said that the overall training of Pacquiao in the Philippines was the best they has ever done. He had no complains, no waking up in the middle of the night, no Team Pacquiao mess-ups, and no Pacquiao sudden disappearances. For the first time in how many years, no distractions were seen from Manny Pacquiao?s camp during training and we all know that the P4P king thrives in distractions. I wonder if this would have an effect come May 6. Hmmm?
Till next week?
