The countdown to Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto officially begins this evening when HBO presents the first installment of Pacquiao-Cotto 24/7. This fight brings extra excitement in that Manny, who many consider to be boxing’s pound-for-pound champion (until he fights Floyd Mayweather, I believe), is moving up in weight (again) to 145 pounds to fight Miguel Cotto, the current WBO welterweight champ. I’ve doubted Manny in the past and I’ve always lived to regret those doubts.
There are unanswered questions for both fighters. Miguel has only lost once. That was a little over a year ago when Antonio Margarito beat him …read more

I’m not bound by boxing and apparently neither is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Whereas I express myself by losing at poker for the majority of a Friday night and thus not watching the live boxing, Floyd demonstrates his determination by issuing a heartfelt and pained press release stating he’s gone for good and is forsaking his $20M fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
Boxing writers the blogosphere over have responded with their own heartfelt remembrances of the 31-year-old. Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole tells Floyd how much he’ll be missed, ESPN’s Kieran Mulvaney wonders what might have been and even the usually doubtful …read more

Ever since Vince McMahon made his $1,000,000 giveaway promise last week on RAW we\’ve wondered what and who is going to win the money. Cynical on-line speculators have supposed it to be a ploy to help WWE\’s sagging ratings. \r\n\r\nFirstly, every sport\’s TV ratings are down and I don\’t think that\’s necessarily an indication of flagging popularity. Secondly, up until this point all indications point towards the prize being given to someone in the live audience ergo the giveaway has nothing to do with TV Ratings. The WWE is also doing pretty well with live attendance figures. Finally, who cares …read more

It’s 8:00 p.m. EST on Saturday night. Your probably know already whether you’re going out or not. We here at www.jabandgrapple.com are indeed leaving the humble abode and headed to this party. Just because it’s an art show doesn’t mean we’re not tough. Heck, we’re watching Steven Seagal and DMX’s Exit Wounds right now.
Nevertheless if you are staying in you really need to watch tonight’s Boxing After Dark on HBO. We can’t explain why any better than Tim at Ring Report:
Yuriorkis Gamboa = Mike Tyson + Roy Jones + Floyd Mayweather. Gamboa, a 130-pounder, may not end up …read more

Image details: Floyd Mayweather Jr. Portraits served by picapp.com
Could that headline be true? Could Floyd Mayweather, Jr. really be driving a 240+ mph open-wheel car at the Brickyard this year? Here are the top 10 reasons as to why that could be true.
1) The recently re-merged Indy Racing League and CART circuit needs publicity.
2) The American open-wheel leagues have been hemorrhaging qualified drivers to NASCAR in the last few year.
3) Floyd has lightning quick reflexes that would serve him well in auto racing.
4) We’ve seen his stable of cars on HBO’s 24/7 show which he humbly listed in 2007 as …read more

Image details: Paul Spadafora served by picapp.com
Paul Spadafora begins his second return to boxing Friday night at Erie, Pennsylvania’s Avalon Hotel against journeyman Shad Howard. Since relinquishing his IBF lightweight title in 2003 Spadafora has been in and out of prison, emerging in 2006 to begin a comeback but swiftly violating parole and sinking further into despair and anonymity.
Just five years ago, at 28, the awkward southpaw was on top of the world. He had held a world title from the time he was 23. He had fought two fights on HBO. He was a likely big money opponent for …read more

Quick programming note: WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon, Triple H, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Big Show, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be guests on tonight’s edition of Larry King Live. The hour-long show will air at 9pm ET on CNN.