Boxing Boxing

Freddie Roach is one of the world's best known boxing trainers, having worked prepared Oscar De La Hoya to fight Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao to fight Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz, and several other top boxers for high-profile fights.

So the fact that Roach is training mixed martial arts heavyweight Andrei Arlovski for his fight in the upcoming Affliction: Banned show could be seen by some as a sign of the way mixed martial arts is on the rise and boxing is on the decline. But Roach doesn't see it that way. In a conference call to promote the Affliction show today, Roach had this to say:

"I really never had any problem with MMA fighters. I think that both sports are great sports and fight fans are fight fans. ... A lot of boxing people dislike the MMA style of fighting, but I'm a fight fan. Any kind of fighting, I like it."

I feel the same way as Roach -- whether it's boxing or MMA or judo or taekwondo or wrestling or whatever, I like to see two competitors squaring off, and I'm always a little surprised by how many people act as though you have to choose between being either a boxing fan or an MMA fan.

Oscar De La Hoya is both the most popular boxer in the United States and the most powerful boxing promoter in the United States, so the announcement that De La Hoya has agreed to work with USA Boxing is very good news for the state of amateur boxing in this country.

De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has announced that it will begin collaborating with USA Boxing, the national governing body for amateur boxing, on marketing efforts that will help raise the sport's profile:

"Golden Boy Promotions has set the gold standard in terms of a top-quality approach to the sport and business of boxing," said USA Boxing CEO Jim Millman. "This alliance will help USA Boxing accelerate its growth and development in many areas, while giving our elite athletes the benefit of more time spent with Oscar de la Hoya."

De La Hoya was one of America's top amateur boxers, winning America's only gold medal in the 1992 Olympics, and now, as he prepares to leave the sport, he's looking for ways to give back. Good for him.

On Saturday night, referee Joe Cortez disqualified boxer Humberto Soto for an illegal punch in his WBC super featherweight title fight against Francisco Lorenzo. I and nearly all observers thought it was a bad decision by Cortez, but Soto says it was more than that: According to Soto, it was a racist decision:

In that video, Soto said in Spanish, "I think the ref is a racist. Everyone watching saw me win the fight." Cortez is Puerto Rican, Soto is Mexican and Lorenzo is Dominican.

Cortez completely botched the ending of the fight, which Soto had dominated before Cortez ruled that Soto hit Lorenzo when Lorenzo was down. But suggesting that Cortez was motivated by racism is a hell of an accusation, and Soto provides no evidence. Refs screw up sometimes. That doesn't mean there are ulterior motives.

Manny Pacquiao is the world's best boxer, but from the looks of the crowd at his fight Saturday night, the American public hasn't fully embraced him. The Mandalay Bay failed to sell out, with a rather paltry crowd of 8,362.

So what was the problem? Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, says he knows who's to blame:

"There's one guy you can blame, and that's George Bush," Arum said. "With gasoline prices the way they are, people just can't afford to come in from California."

Arum wasn't done there; he's also quoted as saying, "I don't care if it's Obama or McCain. We want a change and we're going to get a change. These eight years have been the worst eight years that I can remember in the United States."

So if President Bush has now lost the support of rich white men like Arum, who exactly makes up the 25% or so of the country who still like him?

Before he put the finishing touches on David Diaz, boxing fans started wondering who Manny Pacquiao would fight next. Names like Nate Campbell and Ricky Hatton got tossed around but, as our own MDS mentioned, promoter Bob Arum kept talking about was Edwin Valero. Arum went even further in a telephone interview yesterday. Via Bad Left Hook,

In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports, Arum said that he was "pretty close to making a deal with (Akihiko) Honda", the well-known Japanese businessman-sportsman who handles Valero, adding "hopefully I will be able to finalize it tomorrow (Monday in the US)"

The fight makes a lot of sense for both men. Valero is having trouble making weight at 130 so moving up is a natural progression while Pacquiao would like to get one defense under his belt before trying to make a fight with seasoned lightweights like Joel Casamayor (if he beats two-time Pacman foe Juan Manuel Marquez) or Campbell.

The only snag could be Valero's failure to gain medical clearance from any state other than Texas. Arum said he'd like to make the fight in Vegas, probably in November, so that's a stumbling block but likely a minor one. Valero's won all 24 of his fights by knockout but has never faced anyone close to Pacquiao. Vanquishing a fighter with that pedigree will only burnish Pacquiao as he moves on to other big fights down the line.

Here's a look at upcoming title and televised bouts for the month of July. It's a pretty light month until July 26 when undefeated Miguel Cotto defends his welterweight title against Antonio Margarito. It's a bout worthy of pay-per-view as both men come in full of confidence and fighting as well as they ever have. Margarito will keep coming no matter what kind of bombs Cotto throws his way and Cotto has rarely been tested by a fighter with Margarito's ability. The winner will unquestionably be the best welterweight in the world.

The other fight that will garner a lot of attention will be Wladimir Klitschko's heavyweight title defense against Tony Thompson. There's not as much question about who will be left standing at the end of this one, Klitschko's a heavy favorite, but lingering questions about the champ's chin should make this a must-see as well. Make no mistake, though, Cotto-Margarito is the one fight you can't miss this month.

We're less than 12 hours removed from Manny Pacquiao's knockout of David Diaz, and already the question must be asked: Who does Pacquiao fight next? Here are a few possibilities:

Nate Campbell: This would be an excellent fight, with the winner potentially unifying the lightweight title belts of all four sanctioning bodies.

Edwin Valero: Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, says Pacquiao will stay at lightweight to defend the WBC title he won last night, and Valero is the one name he mentioned as a possible opponent.

Joel Casamayor: The Ring Magazine lightweight champ faces Juan Manuel Marquez in September; if he wins he'd be a natural opponent for Pacquiao, but probably not until early next year.

Humberto Soto: On last night's undercard, Soto lost a dubious disqualification after dominating Francisco Lorenzo.

Amir Khan: Has been discussed as a possible opponent, but probably isn't ready for Pacquiao.

Ricky Hatton: It would be a huge fight, if Pacquiao is willing to move up in weight class again. This won't happen in 2008 but could happen in 2009.

Manny Pacqiuao knocked out David Diaz tonight in Las Vegas with a sensational showing, one that electrified the crowd and solidified the Filipino's spot atop the boxing world.

The WBC lightweight title was on the line, giving Pacquiao his fourth different weight class title. But more significantly, Pacquiao entered the ring for the first time atop the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound rankings. He'll certainly stay atop those ratings: He's the best boxer in the world.

Diaz showed tremendous heart and courage, refusing to back down no matter how many times Pacquiao punched him. Pacquiao was a vastly superior fighter, and the official FanHouse scorecard had Pacquiao winning every round of the fight. It was as dominant a showing as you'll ever see.

Pacquiao improved his record to 47-3-2. Diaz fell to 34-2-1.

Welcome to the FanHouse live blog of tonight's Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz lightweight title fight, where we'll be providing round-by-round updates of all the action.

Live commentary begins at 9 p.m. Eastern/9 a.m. Philippines time. The main event should start around 11:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Philippines time.

Welcome to the FanHouse live preview chat of tonight's Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight. We're just over 12 hours away from the big event, so now is a good time to ask questions, make comments and post your prediction for the fight.

The chat begins after the jump.