Manny Pacquiao did more than knock out Ricky Hatton last night. His 73rd punch in the second round of the Junior Welterweight bout sent Ricky sprawling for the third and final time in what was a short-lived, lopsided event in front of 16,262 fans at the sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. And in the process, I believe he placed himself among the elite in boxing history.
There is little doubt that Manny is the pound-for-pound champion at this point. But what about all-time? Manny has compiled a 49-3-2 record in six different weight classes. Yes, six different …read more

Imagine you are Antonio Margarito. Your impressive July beat down of Miguel Cotto was a rousing success both in pulling pay-per-view buys and in garnering media attention. Casual sports fans have started recognizing your name and maybe even your face.
The sky is the limit. Right? Well, not so much. There are so few people out there for you to fight for your deserved huge payday. Shane Mosley? Yawn, that guy never caught the public’s eye. Paul Williams? Nobody knows him and maybe he’s a little too dangerous. Zab Judah? I’d have a good time at least. Ricky Hatton? Um, …read more

August’s b5media sports channel theme day is “favorites”. Presumably I’m supposed to tell you about my favorite pro wrestler and/or boxer. The thing is, as a sports blogger/expert analyst journalism ethics tell me that I can’t show favoritism. I can’t root for one fighter over another. It would destroy my credibility. It would severely undermine the high standards to which jabandgrapple.com aspires.
“Um, excuse me.” It seems the peanut gallery has something to say. “Everytime you write about Jeff Hardy you say ‘I love you Jeff Hardy, I love you Jeff Hardy’. And what about your ridiculous and overt pining for …read more

Jeff Lacy was a rising super middleweight star prior to his March 4, 2006 demolition at the hands of Joe Calzaghe. Since then things haven’t been the same for the 2000 U.S. Olympian.
In December of 2006 Lacy staggered to a razor thin majority decision of Ukrainian Vitali Tsypko although few ringside observers felt Lacy had done enough to win. His next fight came a year later in December 2007 against The Contender favorite Peter Manfredo, Jr., a fight that appeared on the Ricky Hatton – Floyd Mayweather, Jr. undercard. Left Hook Lacy was again underwhelming in victory.
Tonight Lacy fights …read more

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The September 20 light heavyweight title match between Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) and Roy Jones, Jr. (52-4, 38 KOs) has officially been postponed because of a Calzaghe right wrist injury.
ESPN’s Dan Rafael quotes the fight’s promoter as saying “(Calzaghe) told me it’s an injured right wrist,” the promoter said. “I was told that he hurt it on Sunday punching a heavy bag.”
The initial word is that the match could be rescheduled for November. No word on whether the fight’s proposed venue, New York’s Madison Square Garden, would be available during that month. The NY Knicks …read more

Image details: The Contender Challenge – UK v USA served by picapp.com
The boxing reality show The Contender has found a new home, a new weight class, and its most impressive roster of fighters yet. After one season on NBC, and two on ESPN, the showcase for up-and-coming fighters will now be shown on the Versus Network. Let’s hope it does better than their famously low-rated NHL coverage. The new season will begin in December.
In the past few months Versus has intermittently put its toes in the boxing waters; its most notable event being May’s Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano bout. …read more

Ninth Round TKO win for Manny Pacquaio. David Diaz didn’t score one round. Diaz summarized it best after the fight to the Top Rank announcer “He was so f***ing fast. I didn’t think he was that fast.”
After the fight Pacquiao indicated to the Top Rank interview (but not HBO’s Jim Lampley) that he wants to go up to 140 and fight Ricky Hatton. We’d love to see that one. The promise of the Pacquiao payday might also bring Floyd Mayweather out of retirement.
After the jump and/or below is a youtube of the HBO recap and Manny interview.
Below that is …read more

Didn’t catch the Paulie Malignaggi fight on Saturday and catch a glimpse of his ridiculous hair extensions? Our Komondor dog shot wasn’t descriptive enough? The photo to the right is a “before shot” taken three days prior to Saturday’s fight. After the jump is the post-match interview Paulie did for British television. Check out the shorn locks and Paulie’s amazement that during the interview “they’re picking up pieces of my hair all over the ring!”
In the interview he manages to complain about many things. They include: his opponent Lovemore N’Dou’s complaining, N’Dou grabbing technique, the fact that N’Dou didn’t …read more

In Saturday’s Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano undercard match Brooklyn junior welterweight proved that you can’t hit what you can’t see. The problem wasn’t the head speed of his opponent South African Lovemore N’Dou; N’Dou was relatively stationary. No, the problem was Malignaggi’s recently implanted 18-inch-long hair extensions.
In the first round of the IBF junior welterweight title bout The Magic Man more resembled a Komondor dog (pictured to the right) than a boxer. His long twisted fake locks escaped their weak rubber band-hold less than a minute into the fight. Paulie spent the next two minutes fighting through his heavily-obscuring hair. While …read more

In the main event of an entertaining mid-day Saturday pair of junior welterweight bouts Ricky Hatton outlasted Juan Lazcano by a wide margin.
55,000 screaming Mancunians poured into Eastlands, the home stadium of Manchester City FC, to see their favorite son outperform and out-brawl Lazcano. Hatton was hurt twice by Lazcano — in the 8th and in the 10th — but his near-constant pressure and successful stream of body punches and left hooks proved too much for the American.