Freddie Roach on Saturday night did the predictable and the impossible.
Boxing
Bernard Hopkins insists he is not ducking Chad Dawson. But the 44-year-old veteran said if he’s going to continue fighting at his advanced age, his bank account better receive a substantial boost.
Unleashing punches at a machine-gun pace has made Manny Pacquiao a bona fide boxing star. No longer is he perceived as an undersized underdog.
The Joint is new, but Urbano Antillon is the same devastating force he was in the Hard Rock hotel’s former venue.
The trainers have waged a war of words for weeks. Now it’s finally time for the fighters to back up all that boasting.
• WHAT: 12 rounds, for Hatton’s IBO and Ring Magazine junior welterweight titles
• WHEN: 6 p.m. today
• WHERE: MGM Grand Garden
• ODDS: Pacquiao minus-255, Hatton plus-215
• TV: HBO Pay Per View (Cable 501/701); $49.95, $59.95 (HD)
Check back here for round-by-round coverage!
Floyd Mayweather Jr., the former unbeaten welterweight king who hasn’t fought since late 2007, will end his retirement to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand Garden, a source close to the fighter said Friday.
Bernard Hopkins says to disregard Manny Pacquiao’s destruction of Oscar De La Hoya. Forget it. Throw it out. Never happened.
When the Hard Rock hotel moved The Joint to a different location on the property, it wasn’t just about an improved concert experience. The hotel-casino also was getting back in the boxing business.
It’s all about Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton this week as the junior welterweight stars prepare to square off in the ring Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.
With the global economy mired in a recession, a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton apparently is all the stimulus that thousands of boxing fans from the United Kingdom and the Philippines needed to shell out up to $5,000 apiece to make the trip for Saturday night’s showdown at the MGM Grand Garden.
The tough part was watching his mother move slowly down the stairs with two newly shined black eyes. The confusing part was watching his father laugh in her face shortly after his fists inflicted the damage.
Maybe Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton are simply too nice to trash-talk each other. Or maybe the fighters can’t get a word in edgewise amid their trainers’ verbal feud.
Ricky Hatton said there’s a misconception about himself that he wanted to clarify.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. — It’s chaos at the Wild Card Boxing Club.