Floyd Mayweather was nowhere to be seen in the MGM Grand Hotel during the lead-up to this past Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight megafight. Nor could the undefeated, five-time champion and Las Vegas resident be found when Pacquiao made history by lifting from Cotto the WBO's 147-pound title belt.
But in the days since Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, stood in the ring before a packed MGM Grand Garden Arena and called out his name as the man he wanted to be Pacquiao's next opponent, Mayweather has gotten the message loud and clear.
Mayweather's name was even chanted by the crowd of more than 16,200, but he says that he just hasn't heard it from Pacquiao's own mouth.
LAS VEGAS -- The superlatives ran rampant during the aftermath of Manny Pacquiao's brilliantly violent beatdown of Miguel Cotto on Saturday night in an MGM Grand Garden Arena packed to its rafters with more than 16,200 fans.
Having witnessed the Filipino superstar's array of speed, athleticism and durability used to batter senseless the Puerto Rican warrior before their fight was stopped 55 seconds into the 12th round, promoter Bob Arum declared Pacquiao "the best fighter that I've ever seen -- and that includes Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard, and Marvin Hagler."
Ross Greenburg, head honcho of sports programming at HBO, told reporters it is time for Pacquiao to face his unbeaten, pound-for-pound rival, Floyd Mayweather, in a "Super Bowl" type of matchup whose modern-day significance would rival Ali-Joe Frazier.
Promoter Gary Shaw, right, said that he is "pushing for a rematch with the WBC" between his 168-pound fighter, Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs), and the organization's super middleweight champion, Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs), who won a split-decision over Dirrell on Oct. 17 as part of Showtime's Super Six super middleweight tournament.
"I'm looking to try to get it done for December. I'm talking to Showtime about it, and I have a meeting with them this week," said Shaw, whose talented southpaw, Dirrell, is scheduled to face hard-hitting, former middleweight world titlist, Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs), in the second stage of the tournament on Jan. 23.
Abraham is coming off of an Oct. 17, 12th-round knockout of former middleweight world champion, Jermain Taylor.
Chad Dawson, the undefeated light heavyweight champion, will pursue a bout with the winner of next month's Jean Pascal-Adrian Diaconu matchup, his promoter, Gary Shaw, told FanHouse on Sunday.
"I really believe that in time, all roads will lead to Chad Dawson -- just like it did for Pernell Whitaker, and just like it did for Bernard Hopkins," said Shaw, making sure not to rule out possible bouts against Hopkins or Roy Jones, who will likely face each other early in 2010.
"They won't be able to avoid him, because people will eventually say, 'You can't say that you're the best, and you can't say that you're the champion until you've fought Chad Dawson and beat him,' " said Shaw. "I believe that Chad is, right now, officially the gatekeeper at 175 pounds."
Chad Dawson scored a unanimous decision victory over Glen Johnson during this live blog with round-by-round updates in an intriguing light heavyweight fight.
The HBO-televised broadcast began at 9:30 p.m. ET, with the main event beginning at approximately 10 p.m., ET, from Hartford, Conn.
Dawson easily improved to 29-0 with 17 knockouts, and Johnson slipped to 49-13-2, with 33 KOs.
Live blog: Refresh this page often for minute-by-minute updates.
Perhaps Glen Johnson's best attempt at head-games during the buildup to Saturday night's 175-pound rematch with IBO titlist Chad Dawson is his refusal to admit defeat.
The facts are that Johnson was not only judged the loser of their first light heavyweight clash in April of 2008 by scores of 116-112 on all three cards, but that the decision was rendered before a partisan crowd in Miami -- not far from the native Jamaican's current home in Hollywood, Fla.
But Johnson's insistence that he was "robbed" clearly rankles Dawson's promoter, Gary Shaw, and if nothing else, has Dawson so chagrined that he has vowed to turn up the heat when they face off at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., near the champion's hometown of New Haven.
Even though "Bad" Chad Dawson won by four points on all three judges cards in the hometown of his opponent the last time they faced, Glen Johnson still believes that he was robbed.
So on Saturday night, the 40-year-old fighter nicknamed, "The Road Warrior," will travel to the 27-year-old Dawson's home turf of Hartford, Conn., hoping to show the young pup that the old dog has learned some new tricks during his quest to become the eldest fighter to win a light heavyweight crown.
FanHouse sought the opinions of some of boxing's experts to determine if Dawson can retain his IBO title and win the "interim" WBC 175-pound crown Saturday night.
Southpaw former world champions, Zab Judah, and Joel Casamayor will return to the ring on Friday night at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas.
Judah, a 32-year-old welterweight (147 pounds), will be ending a nearly 12-month layoff. The 38-year-old Casamayor will be ending a nearly 14-month ring absence when he enters the ring as a light weight (135).
Judah (37-6, 25 knockouts) will face 31-year-old Adailton De Jesus (23-4, 18 KOs) of Brazil, who has won four of his last five fights.
For the past few weeks, Angelo Dundee, has busily provided on-site expertise to media members at Tampa's Fight Factory Gym, where WBO champ Miguel Cotto has been in training for his Nov. 14, welterweight clash with Manny Pacquiao.
So it is no surprise that the 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer wasn't aware that today is the 35th anniversary of Muhammad Ali's eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in "The Rumble In The Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire.
In fact, Dundee said that none of the many reporters clamoring for his opinion on Cotto-Pacquiao "has even mentioned it."
See what Dundee had to say about the historic bout during his Q&A after the jump.
Chad Dawson is nothing if not a winner; he just hasn't cashed in for a defining, lucrative fight.
"We've not gotten the chance to really expose Chad like I would like to expose Chad," said Gary Shaw, Dawson's promoter. "But that time will come."
Among the 27-year-old southpaw light heavyweight's most impressive victories was in February 2007, when he routed Polish-born Tomas Adamek of Jersey City by 10, eight and six points respectively over the three judges' cards. Dawson earned the WBC's 175-pound title against Adamek, who lost for the first time in 32 bouts.
"I think that Chad is the best fighter in the world," said Shaw. "I think he's the most talented fighter in the world."
Floyd Mayweather was nowhere to be seen in the MGM Grand Hotel during the lead-up to this past Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight megafight. Nor could the undefeated, five-time champion and Las Vegas resident be found when Pacquiao made history by lifting from Cotto the WBO's 147-pound title belt. 
LAS VEGAS -- The superlatives ran rampant during the aftermath of 
Promoter Gary Shaw, right, said that he is "pushing for a rematch with the WBC" between his 168-pound fighter, 
Perhaps 
Even though 
Southpaw former world champions, 
For the past few weeks, 
Chad Dawson
