BOXER EDGAR SANTANA ARRESTED

Boxer Edgar Santana has been dropped from his fight on ESPN2 next month following his New York arrest in a "major" cocaine bust. A win in that August 6th fight would have put Santana in line for a shot at the junior welterweight championship.

Instead, Santana faces possible jail time for his role in the alleged sale of one kilo of cocaine.

Although the record may seem adequate at first glance, Castro lost his last fight - to 2-7 Robert Meza - in February. He also lost a decision to Marlon Chavarria last September.

Back in '05 Castro lost to Roman Gonzalez by KO (Gonzalez challenges for the WBA version at 105 in September) while more recently he drew with Hector Elizabeth, who subsequently has gone on a run of four straight losses. Those to inflict defeat on Elizabeth include Chavarria (who those of you taking notes will recognise as the chap who beat Castro last year). Chavarria in turn has lost by KO to Yader Escobar, who for good measure has beaten Elizabeth too.

On paper, Castro seems the poorest of the three if you compare him, Chavarria and Escobar. Escobar certainly seems to be operating at a higher level. This is reflected in his boxrec ranking - #24 to Castro's #74 (Chavarria is #38).

The IBO's objective rankings meanwhile have Escobar at #19. Castro does not make the IBO's top 50.

Why then, do the WBO see fit to rank Castro (#9!) ahead of Escobar (#11) in their rankings? According to their ratings criteria, there should be a "special emphasis on boxers recent activities." A loss to 2-7 Meza, who was previously KOd in 1 round by Escobar, does not seem to me the sort of recent activity that should be getting you a title shot or putting you higher in the ratings than someone who is clearly a better boxer.

Larry Johnson was busy getting ready for the upcoming NFL season on a Tuesday night at Pure in Las Vegas. Don't worry Mike Tyson was there to make sure everyone behaved and had a good time. He looked thrilled to be there...wouldn't you?

Though, he probably prefers it when a single white female is giving him a public lapdance at Pure. More photos [courtesy of Napkin Nights] after the jump.

From the looks of these photos, Larry is really testing out that new designer belt.

When he's not getting lapdances, Mike Tyson apparently spends most of time charging people $5.00 to take a photo with him.

This Margarito vs Cotto is live on pay per view or you can watch Cotto vs Margarito on TVU and SOPCAST.

Let's see who will prevail on Cotto and Margarito fight this Sunday and see the result of the this epic battle of Margarito and Cotto for free.

MIGUEL COTTO AND ANTONIO MARGARITO AT THE MGM IN LAS VEGAS. THE TWO FIGHT THIS WEEKEND

My next door neighbor who is landscaping and making changes to her back yard sounds like it might be winding down. I’m hearing work being done during the week. The weekends the noise may start early but by early afternoon quiet has returned. When we kidded her about all the noise, she said she would be having a barbecue and we are all invited. Hoo, hoo!

Now the really weird thing was my neighbor across the street has painted her house and I never noticed. I was parking the truck one night and I realized that her house had become a different color. Whoa, when did this happen? Goes to show you how much I pay attention to my neighbors. I did talk with Mz. M and she and her friends had been doing the work. Boy, we gals are amazing creatures.

One chore we did begin was collecting clutter that can be sold in a garage sale. Both of us grimace at the thought of a sale but we need to get rid of the clutter and make some money. We need a few more things and I think in a couple of weeks we can open the door.

To finish off the weekend we watched the heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschkovs against Tony “The Tiger” Thompson. The fight took place in Hamburg, Germany. This website shows the two fighters but if anyone is offended by a bit of cursing, don’t go there. Michael and I both like boxing and we do have our favorite fighters. It amazes us that this is another activity we both enjoy. Oh yeah, Wladimir won.

When I lived in Kansas, I was a hair dresser and I had a client who was a fighter and I would cut his hair prior to his fights. I did get front row seats and I feel this is what sparked me into watching the styles of the fighters and to watching the fights on television. That said, being at the fight is always better but being at home it is cheaper.

mz. em

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Quote of the Day:

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”

- - George Bernard Shaw

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Currently Reading:

"Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" by Sarah Ban Breathnach

New American Standard Bible

"Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism Second Edition" by Al-Anon Family Groups

“Something More Excavating Your Authentic Self” by Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner Worlds” by Deena Metzger

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Scottish lightweight Willie Limond, a capable, diligent but oft undervalued performer, will have to wait a little longer for his moment in the spotlight versus Dmitriy Salita at Madison Square Gardens, as the repercussions of Joe Calzaghe's wrist injury domino through the postponed September fight-card.

Limond, best remembered for decking Amir Khan in their contest a year ago last week before ultimately succumbing in eight rounds to the unbeaten Bolton man, will be stepping up in weight class to the 10 stone division if the fight materialises on the reconvened November card.

Salita, a native of Brooklyn but heralding from the Ukraine is a 2001 New York Golden Gloves winner but remains, arguably at least, an untested fighter with a pristine but shallow 26-0 record. One observer of Salita in action Jimmy O'Pharrow, who runs the Starrett City Boxing club where Dmitriy started as a fresh faced 13 year old, suggested Salita "looks Russian, prays Jewish and fights black", which informs and baffles in equal measure.

Certain cynics would suggest his earning potential as a Jewish contender has precluded any serious tests from his resume this far, and on face value Limond appears another carefully selected step along that route. Not a career Light-Welter, though he has weighed in as high as 145 pounds for one marking time fight and beaten men who've gone on to challenge for the British Light Middleweight belt, Limond is also not a noted puncher as 8 knockouts in 29 victories attests. But Salita is far from unbeatable having been floored more than once in the compilation of his glamorous record.

Despite his history with naturally larger opponents, Limond saw the positive in the delay. Speaking to the Daily Record in Scotland Limond commented: "I'm very disappointed that my fight has been postponed but at least the show will still go on in November," adding, "The delay also gives me time to prepare more thoroughly for the light-welterweight division. I will be staying in the gym preparing for this fight and working to build myself up and get in shape for the higher weight division."

In fact, his fight with both Khan and earlier Alex Arthur both represented contests in which the natural size advantages lay with Limond's opponents and Limond applied himself admirably in both. Salita, tagged 'Star of David', certainly spoke with due respect for his Scottish opponent; "Willie Limond is definitely a worthy fighter. He fights hard and has some real skill."

At 29, these are precious opportunities for Limond and while still the 'opponent' in the contest he has a tremendous chance to gatecrash the Light-Welterweight top 10 if he can get the better of Salita in November.

Just reward for a willing fighter and ambitious fighter.

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Being at the fight is a special experience. True television coverage offers you multiple camera angles, proximity and the benefit of replays for those crucial moments but no matter how effective your Dolby surround sound is or crystal clear your high definition LCD presents the pictures it cannot beat being there.

Danny Williams' absorbing victory over Big John McDermott last Friday was a classic case in point and while it also demonstrated the benefit of being the opposite side of the ring to the breathless uttering of Adam Smith, it would seem Smith and Watt had McDermott clearly winning the bout in their Sky commentary, it also showed just how subjective scoring a fight can be.

In attendance as a paying fan, as opposed to the usually luxurious position of holding a press cred, I watched the fight as a spectacle and didn't record a score or take notes on the round by round action. This means I cannot revert to an accurate scoring of the fight or reflect and reassess my round by round synopsis of the action. I have to rely on my instinctive summary of the contest. I had Danny winning the fight by a round, maybe two once the point deductions were considered. True, Big John performed well beyond expectation. I've seen him live several times and this was the most focused and fired up I've ever seen him, as well you might expect given the magnitude of the task. It is in this unexpected success that I believe many observers have been hypnotised. Barnsley can hit the post in the semi-final but it doesn't mean they've won the cup.

Glen McCrory, a worthy opinion given his own history and achievements in the ring, was encouraged by John's success, most notably in the fifth round when he had Danny reeling for over a minute. McCrory further suggested "that fifth round when he bashed Danny up was enough to take the British belt" in an article entitled Friday Fight Night for paymaster Sky Sports. An observation belying McCrory's usually balanced perspective. The suggestion one round can win you a British title or any fight for that matter is so mathematically ludicrous it barely requires contradiction. Admittedly, Williams could easily have been stopped by referee Dave Parris, but he clung on and never touched down. Still, it was sufficient domination from the challenger to justify a 10-8 round but whatever the permutations of the other rounds it couldn't justify a victory in isolation. McCrory's comments strike me as eye catching but both misleading and unhelpful.

Referee Parris offered Williams more latitude in that round than I've seen from a British referee in some time, compatriots Terry O'Connor and Ian John-Lewis would both, one suspects, have intervened during that fifth round and though that latitude helped soothe some of the angst the late point deductions for low blows, a push with the forearm and spitting out his gum shield accrued among the neutrals, it is important to remember why Williams was afforded so much 'rope' in that fifth session.

Williams earned the benefit of the doubt. Gutsy performances versus Potter, Tyson and Klitschko will all have swirled in Parris' mind, those performances in victory and defeat afforded Williams every opportunity to cling on to his British title, it wasn't lenient officiating, it was officiating based on experience and the fighter in question. For all his other idiosyncrasies, once in the trenches the Brixton man has a heart the size of a bath-tub and Parris realised it where others would have acted with more haste. Parris deserves applause as did Mickey Vann when kicking the towel back out of the ring during Earl v Katsidis last year.

Promoter Frank Maloney, was incandescent at the decision. Forcefully telling Simon Block, Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) off air that the result "was a joke" and the more vociferous McDermott fans who'd packed the Goresbrook Leisure Centre voiced their disgust at the verdict. I'd have loved to have asked them the rounds they believed John had won, from recollection I would say the 1st, 5th and maybe one or two of the later rounds when both fighters were regrouping following the monumental fifth. True many sessions were uneventful, but too often McDermott held and tied up the champion (without a note of warning from referee Dave Parris) to legitimately lay claim to many rounds with any assurance.

Commenting on his own website, FrankMaloney.com, Maloney also believed the late deductions swung the fight in McDermott's favour and while they clearly made the decision closer they didn't win him rounds, merely reduced Williams aggregate score because in truth, John McDermott - for all his surprising competitiveness - claimed perhaps only 4 or 5 '10's' across the whole 12 rounds. Whether Maloney's more inflammatory comments regarding the ability of the judges and his suggestion they'd "picked the winner before the fight" will be the subject of scrutiny from the BBBofC remains to be seen.

In closing, the fight ultimately confirmed Danny Williams potential has probably been exhausted and horizons beyond the British title appear theoretical rather than realistic and for the challenger it provided some confirmation of his credentials at British title level and that beneath the mild-mannered, undefined exterior lies a pretty solid heavyweight.

Due to circumstances beyond my control the site, www.boxingwriter.co.uk has been inactive for over two months due to major server problems. A point of great frustration to me and to both of my readers the site is now back in its primative form with the redirect from boxingwriter.co.uk hopefully restored in the days ahead. My thanks to those who've clamoured for a return of boxing's little water cooler. Hopefully, I'll be able to post with some degree of regularity in the coming weeks.

For those who would like to contribute, please get in touch. I promise you an honest and direct response to your interest.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER'S MERCEDES

From Steve Cofield of Yahoo! Sports:

Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather's Mercedes was reportedly spotted at the Las Vegas Summer Basketball League parked in a handicapped parking space.

Get more Boxing content at Combat-hooligans.com

Tuck it Away Owner Stands his Ground Against Columbia [NYO]

The Heat didn't keep Harlem Bookworms Inside Reading [NY1]

Sharpton's Tax Probe is Dropped [AP] see also, CNN

La Fonda Boricua Braces for the Big Fight [ESPN]

The Big Fight is Still On for Santana [NYDN]

Harlem Subway Lines "Fare" Well With Arrival Times [NYT]

Kalahari Construction Stall Give it Hives [WATPA]

Inwood described as "lawless" in the Summer [Curbed]

Now, the sticks I didn't know about but the boxing gloves I did, of course. And here's how it happened:

I get quite a few visitors at Syncretia and for the largest part they tend to avoid me. They are quite respectful of one's privacy and do not really venture anywhere near me. Well, not so this one avatar a week or so ago. I was working in the gym, fine tuning the exercise benches and what have you, when suddenly this dude shows up, right? He is one of those conspicuously (and intentionally) ugly avatars, but not a noob. Incidentally I am becoming a real pro at this, nowadays I don't even need to look into someone's profile before I have them sussed. But I do look anyway, just to make sure of course, and sure enough he has been around for a while, belongs to all the right groups and bla bla... Oh and, the ugly avatar look is kind of like going to the opera in jeans. It is this eeever so subtle way of implying to the SL community that you may be here but you are nonetheless maintaining your objectivity, you are refusing to become part of the system, you are maintaining a critical distance. So you run around looking like a crossbreed between Ruth and very badly mangled up road kill - but no matter: Who cares how you look! You are making a point! You also avoid buying anything at all costs, because that, again, would make you part of the system, a horrifyingly capitalist one at that, right? Tsk tsk... You are soooo different from all those frivolous avatars around you, the ones that are actually enjoying themselves? Right?

Anyway, back to the gloves. So, he starts chatting. We are standing in front of the workout benches. First he asks me whether he is interrupting me. What am I gonna say? Yes? Of course he is interrupting me. I am up to my armpits in virtual machine grease over there. But I am polite of course, and I say "no no not at all". He tells me that he has read about Syncretia on the NWN blog and that he thought that it sounded "interesting" so he came to check it out. Then he asks, "is this an artistic installation?". "Is what an artistic installation?" I want to know. "Well, what you are working on, with all the wheels..." he says. "Ahumm... it is actually a gym", I say... "Oh... interesting..." he says... I don't reply to that one so after a bit he says "well, let me look around a bit" and takes off... Like 5 minutes later he is back: "Where is the artwork?" he asks. "Oh" I say, "there is only this one thing that is kinda art, it is all those type thingies and rocks on a platform out front". He asks for directions, I give them and off he goes. 5 minutes later he is back again! "Very interesting..." he says... And... before I know what I am even doing I have rezzed the gloves!!!

So, in hindsight, I guess what I am saying is something along the lines of "OK, these may be slung over my shoulder at the moment, but one more interesting out of you and I am gonna put them on and then things will start to become really really interesting around here...". "Here take this... and this... and this...", "on the nose... on the nose!"... "You sanctimonious twerp!"...

Needless to say he takes off... teeeeee heeeeee

(I bought the gloves ages ago. I liked the texture and the color but I really had no idea if or where or how they would be needed. But you see, here's my motto: Always err on the side of caution. When in doubt buy! You never know when something will come in handy. Like all of my wonderful Geisha animations. There has yet to materialize an occasion for their usage. But when that day comes I am so gonna be prepared! I'm telling you... Buy first! Think later!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alpha_auer/2371415209/in/set-72157604541225653/

So folks, onto some good news: There is this somewhat remote possibility that I might come into quite a bit of money. (And this is no joke btw, it really might happen. An inheritance thingy that involves a lawsuit with the State of Bulgaria - so, really remote but...). Anyway, if it does... I am setting up my own metaverse. Or better still, I am gonna buy up the decisive voting shares of SL. Get me a nice, cushy seat on the Board of Directors. What am I saying? Become the Board of Directors, I meant! And from that day onward this ain't gonna be no namby pamby democracy no more. Forget all of that malarkey! Dictatorship all the way! Applicants will be strenuously interviewed. I will be controlling login times. Like with pilots? Where they have to clock a certain amount of flight hours a month or their licences get revoked? Same here. None of this ambling in every so often, to check out "interesting" stuff. You wanna be here mate? You live here! End of! I will also be controlling rezzing activity. There will be random checks on what you have purchased or built - if it is less than XXX lollies/XXX prims, you are history!!! Random checks on all chat and IM activity. Verrrry important this one. Words like "interesting", "objective"; "discourse", "critical", "analytical", any word that ends with an "...ology", in fact any word that is longer than 3 syllables - and you are out on your intellectual little ass faster than you can type "epistemological"! hhh... I mean it! I really do!

So yes, it will be a very sparsely populated metaverse indeed - but well worth the results don't you think?

.................................

Hmmm... So are my non-intellectual pretensions really any better that other people's intellectual pretensions? Of course not! But... then again, yes and no, I guess.. To give myself credit where I do in fact deserve some, I kind of tend to keep the intellectual bla bla to research work and papers and stuff. And I do make a point of not using words like "epistemological" even there. 

And I most certainly do not go to someone's home (which is what Syncretia ultimately is, of course) and say "interesting"...

................................

And one does have to be vigilant with these things you know. So, in a way the gloves are there for my benefit as much as anybody else's: The nasty beast lurks within, barely contained... For further reading on the matter please refer to a previous blog post here >>>

;-))

I think maybe Joe was slapping the heavy bag a little too hard...

Calzaghe's camp confirmed to BBC Sport that the unbeaten Welshman has injured his right hand in training and will not be ready.
It was announced last week that the 36-year-old was to meet American great Jones Jr at New York's Madison Square Garden on 20 September.
A new date for the light-heavyweight clash has yet to be decided.

Rest of the story: BBC Sports

**Update** The fight has been rescheduled for November 8th & reportedly is for both Calzaghe's Super Middleweight * Light Heavyweight title

Before I get into this fight, I'm going to have an obligatory bitch about the sanctioning bodies, this is just a warning in case you want to skip to the next paragraph. Why the fuck did the IBF strip Antonio Margarito of his title for fighting the best welterweight in the World? When a fighter of Mayweathers stature retires, you need the top guys fighting and unifying the titles. It takes a lot of credibility away in the eyes of the uneducated fans when the winner of this fight walks away with just one of the major titles and some other lesser fighter pops up and takes the title that rightfully belongs to the winner of the unification bout, and then starts claiming they're a world champion. It's just so retarded and petty that these idiots who run the sanctioning bodies can't get along for the greater good (that being making boxing a more credible sport). As long as boxing keeps this way, it won't ever come close to reaching the heights it once reached.

Enough politics, onto the fight. This should be a war, both guys like to throw punches and both guys like to do it for 12 rounds. I give both the edge in power and durability to Antonio Margarito, but I give a big edge in boxing ability to Miguel Cotto. In the past Cotto has looked shaky when he takes a good shot on the chin, well in this fight he'll be up against the hardest puncher he's ever faced. Margarito has murderous power and if he lands solidly on Cotto, especially early in the fight before Cotto adjusts to his power, he could win this fight by knockout. In saying that though, Cotto's shaky chin could very well be down to the enormous amount of weight he used to have to sweat out in order to make 140lbs, because since he moved to 147lbs he hasn't had that problem. He also hasn't faced someone of Margaritos power.

Margarito has a granite chin, and I think Cotto will have to break him down if he's to win this fight inside the 12 rounds. The only other fighter out there who can break a man down like Cotto in my opinion is Kelly Pavlik. Cotto is the quintessential pressure fighter, as he seems to get stronger as the fight goes on. His body shots just kill people and he doesn't let up his pace throughout the 12 rounds. I give the edge in stamina to Cotto and I think the longer this fight goes on, the less chance Margarito has of finding the punches to put Cotto away. Margarito has good stamina as well, but he seems to struggle with the pace more against Cotto-esque opponents then he does with movers like Paul Williams. The way Cotto works the body and the pace he fights at, Margarito will have trouble keeping up as the fight gets into the later rounds.

There's really two extremes in this fight in terms of which way it will go. Either Margarito will catch Cotto cold in the first 4-6 (at most eight) rounds before he's adjusted to Margaritos power, or Cotto will break him down and punish him in the later rounds to either take a hard fought points decision or score a late stoppage (sometime after the 6th round). I can't see Margarito being able to handle Cotto in the later rounds unless he lays down an almighty beating early on (which I can't see Cotto being able to stand up to) that renders him useless in the later rounds. I also can't see Cotto being able to take a fresh Margarito out early in the fight, Margarito is as tough as they come and he'll take a beating before he goes down. My prediction- Cotto to win by 11th round stoppage, although I have a funny feeling that Margarito will chin him in the 5th.

Doctors were cautiously optimistic Friday as welterweight boxer Oscar Diaz continued to improve in the wake of brain surgery that followed his collapse in a bout on Wednesday.

"The brain is back to its normal size and position, and the swelling has gone down," promoter Donna Duva-Brooks said in a statement.

Neurosurgeon David Jimenez operated for two hours on the left side of the fighter's head on Wednesday night and, according to Duva-Brooks, is pleased with recovery thus far of the 25-year-old Diaz, who remains unconscious.

"He was operated on within two hours of the injury and the doctor said it was of great benefit how fast they were able to get him to the hospital," she said.

There will be a long recovery, but the outlook appeared somewhat brighter for Diaz, whose record fell to 26-3 as a result of the technical-knockout loss to Delvin Rodriguez.

"Oscar's vital signs are good and he has been showing slight improvement each day," Duva-Brooks said. "Doctors say it could take up to a week to come out of the coma.

"We are encouraged by the news that the swelling in his brain is gone, and we're all praying for him and taking it day by day."

There is a brown ball. It spirals and shifts in the air. Eleven men storm down the field, pushing and shoving, grinding and colliding. The cameras watch the ball as it dances, it twitches and spins after the sore punt of foot and pigskin. Through the gap in his mask, the man sees the ball move closer to him, getting bigger and bigger, and uglier and calmer. Every person on the field has his back or wants it. Every beefy fallen warrior is on the side of the field, yelling some putrid advice, ignored or unheard, lost in the growing thicket, the men just run and run, they can't pause and reflect, not now. Every face in the stands owns a piece of their skin, they holler and cheer, the game is going to begin, they can burn the barn, or sit and check their watches, the ball is hung in the air now, and from the press box to the glow of the portable television belonging to a lonely man in an icehouse out on the frozen lake, they all know something is about to happen.

Things have to start somewhere. Here, it is a lazy self congratulatory moment, to end the festivities, white men smiling and shaking hands, and nodding, just too stand sixty feet from a plate and heave some embarrassing exercise of Americana, to only fall short or far off. Is this an icebreaker, or does this seal our fate? Roosevelt hit a Washington Post camera. And we are only 54 outs away from the next time a geezer, a celebrity, a dignitary or some promotional recipient, will stand in the field that thousands have before and feel like the first, the tufts of grass wisping at their ankles.. Maybe they will be ambidextrous. Maybe they will be like Bill and actually make it to the catchers mitt. But most will be like George, and show up a half inning late, most will throw underhand and wince at their creaking joints, their falling status. Doesn't a ritual imply a death?

There will always be something bigger.

The Paris Peace Conference.

A dying father.

The Velacruz Incident

World War One.

A family gathering.

World War Two.

A stroke.

Augusta National.

Friends on sinking ships.

When they made the man into a martyr.

I could never see a poet throwing out the first pitch.

Then the man behind it all puts on his mask. Play ball.

More details on the fight are here.

Get more Boxing content at Combat-Hooligans.com

Para manter a forma nada melhor que um sparring imaginario.

Veja os vídeos:

Via: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

FIGHT OF THE YEAR PRIOR TO 1ST BELL?

Read Full Story at Ringtalk.