For a division awash in talent and hungry up-and-comers, there are plenty of potentially fantastic fights.

First and foremost has got to be Sergio Martinez.   For one, if the big bucks Pac-Man-Money fight happens, Martinez will certainly not get a shot — even if he’s really be pushing for one (making comments that Pacquiao’s performance against Marquez was second class, for example).  That said, we all remember his knock out power against the lanky Paul Williams.  (By the way, where is Williams?  What is he up to?  Oh, he just took out Erislandy Lara.)  Maybe there could be a catchweight agreement between the two, or Martinez could lose a few pounds (he has fought at light middle before).

Number two for a Cotto match?  That would have to be Sergio ¨Canelo¨ Alvarez.  It would be another Puerto Rico versus Mexico bout  – which always does well at the gates.  Alvarez would have to beat Chavez Jr. first, but that seems like a safe bet.  Cotto would have the veteran’s advantage and “Canelo” would play the classic up-and-coming fighter.

A third potential opponent might be Texan James Kirkland.  Despite his ridiculous KO defeat against the increasingly effective Nobohuro Ishida, he redeemed himself with his bout against Alfredo Angulo, knocking him pretty much silly.  Cotto probably wouldn´t want to take this fight however.  Kirkland still doesn´t have much of a new.  A loss to someone like him may ruin Cotto’s recovering career.

Unfortunately, those fights are unlikely to happen now that Cotto has decided to stay with Bob Arum.  All those fighters belong to Golden Boy.  I´d hate to blame Arum for everything, but who can he fight from Top Rank?

When Margarito beat Cotto back in 2008, it was his first loss in an extremely promising career.  To go from there to Pacquiao wasn’t the best possible move by his management.  It seems after his most recent performance, Cotto could be back on top, and maybe even one of the top ten pound-for-pounds around.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M61qVugGIfI

Since then Khan has fought brawler Marcos Maidana and not been taken down like that.  Either Khan had a bad day with Prescott or Prescott is a heavy hitter.  This Saturday fight fans will find out when Prescott is to duke it out with Mike Alvarado (30-0).

Although Prescott is coming off a loss technically from Paul McClusky (23-1), anyone who saw the fight would know it was horrible decision, a classic example of hometown advantage.  It might also be worth noting that Prescott got a knockdown (not a clean one, but a knockdown nonetheless) on the Irish boxer  in the first round (again).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afhve6F-bzc

Alvarado meanwhile is 30-0, but unlike Prescott, who’s taking money fights in the UK wherever he can get them, is willing to take a chance and has hand some tough fights.  A quick glance at Alvarado’s list of opponents will have fight fans running to boxrec, where they quickly find nearly two dozen consistent losers.

Given Prescott’s top physical condition, cagey orthodox style, and -- more than that -- his heavy left hook, he’ll surely be the name on everyone’s lips -- if he can knock out Alvarado.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVcG0i0riLw

According to Rodrigues, she came home one morning in July of 2009 to find her husband dead, in a puddle of blood.  Rodrigues was held for 18 days, while the Brazilian authorities investigated, until they ruled it a suicide.  Rodrigues — originally a suspect — was annulled.  It seemed like another case of CTE, or boxia pugilistica that so often ends in a crescendo of alcoholism before suicide.

Of course, Gatti’s estate value at 6 million dollars complicated things.  The fact that Gatti had drawn up a will only weeks before, complicated them further.  Many were still suspicious of some sort of conspiracy.  Two years later, forensic experts say it was in fact not a suicide.  The experts in the case were hired by Gatti’s former manager Pat Lynch.  Others from Gatti’s entourage lile Antonio Rizzo have even testified in court.  Rizzo claimed that Rodrigues was abusing Gatti, giving him a black eye in one occasion.

Meanwhile, the investigators in Brazil already responded last Thursday and back their original finding that Gatti committed suicide. Towels covered in blood were never tested, shoots back the North American forensic experts.  Rodrigues testified in a civil court on Wednesday.  According to most recent accounts the estate is only worth half of what it was two years ago.  And the legal battle goes on.

But with Mayweather v. Ortiz on everybody’s mind, I thought watching Gatti’s performance against “Money” would be worth remembering, despite its unhappy ending for Jersey´s beloved ¨Thunder.¨

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpeRlacvPBs

Although I applaud HBO for even putting commentators that don’t scream wildly with every punch, or insinuate non-existent background stories -- like say ESPN -- lately Merchant sounds depressed. It was hard to remain neutral scoring the rounds as Merchant over and over again dug into the “Hayemaker.” At one point Jim Lampley almost reprimanded him saying, “You’re in an odd form tonight, Larry.”  Thirty years is a long time to do anything.  Could it be Merchant is burnt out?

A conversation about Larry Merchant’s recent groggy commentary has been going on at Boxingscene since the Klitschko-Haye fight.  Although I don’t know if, as some in the forum suggest, his bias is against African-American fighters, however I do agree that he can’t stand to watch unorthodox technical boxing a la Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bernard Hopkins.  Older fans probably feel the same way, but I don’t have to listen to them;  Larry on the other hand is inescapable.

Hell, at the end of the day, it’s a sport, and most people want to relax and enjoy it.  Life is hard enough, do we really need sports announcers telling us things we like suck?  Imagine watching the NBA playoffs, or the Superbowl with commentators insulting the players, or saying, This team is horrible and nowhere near as good as teams used to be.

Why aren’t kids watching boxing? Maybe in part because this old pendant can’t stop himself from telling us how the sport is a state of decline.

Larry can ask all the boxers he wants when they’ll retire, but when being a boxer announcer feels like a telecasted sigh, maybe it’s time to hang up the microphone for good.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZRxGA2xc_E

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlFhLg4l0hY

Trash-talking, like the kind these two champs did in front of Max Kellerman, seemed to me just another hype mechanism, until I heard this interview with ex-champ Sugar Ray Leonard who talk about being truly affected by insults to him and his wife – he also calls  Hagler a freak of nature -.  Does that mean some of Haye’s gesturing, like say wearing a T-shirt that feature a cartoon picture of him ripping of Klitschko and his brother’s head, might have gotten to champ?  Perhaps.  If so, Klitch like Leonard might be sucked in a fight in which Hayes set the pace, of cattier combos, and faster footwork.  Then again, Klitsch’s usual approach – step forward and punch – might work well if he gets aggressive particularly at the beginning of the fight.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOjrfL3Hu_8

Is this the fight to “save” boxing as some have speculated?  As others have pointed out, myself amongst them, it doesn’t need saving.  Good fights continue to happen.  Whether the general public knows about the is another story.

This could however be the fight to save boxing’s most boring weight division.  As Jack Donavan from Boxingscene pointed out phrases like, “There’s Heavyweights, and then there’s boxing” indicate everyone’s disappointment at the tubby, oafish big leaguers.

Regardless, this will most certainly be a good fight.  That for some is more than enough.

Margarito or “Margacheato”, as he is known by his detractors,  was found with cement in his hand-wraps in a fight against Shane Mosley two years ago.  Although it was never proven, Margarito may have used concrete in his wraps to beat Miguel Cotto, as he did in his following match against Shane Mosley.  Margarito is waiting for approval from his surgeon so that he´ll be able to fight in December; he’s still recovering from the beatdown Manny Pacquiao laid on him some months ago.

Margarito expressed interest in a re-match with Cotto back in March, when Cotto fought Mayorga.  Here’s DaBoxingProfessor with a brief post-fight interview:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJxGKAf0164

Some say that if you watch Cotto v. Margarito I, you’ll notice that Margarito takes off his gloves to celebrate.  Of course, you wouldn’t see concrete within the wraps even if he did.  But if indeed Margarito was cheating, then we’re sure to watch a Cotto comeback after his defeat against Pacquiao.  Then again, although Cotto has won his last two fights that can’t gurantee he won’t crouch into that turtle shell against the ropes and start bleeding.   Neither Foreman -- with a serious knee injury -- or Mayorga -- who put up a good fight for an old out-of-shape smoker -- proved that “Junito” is the real number one division.

So let’s say, as is likely, Cotto wins, who’s next?  Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has just named him as someone he’d like to take on in the future.  No promoter would sleep on another Mexican versus Puerto Rican line-up.   If not, the light middleweight division has a slew of top contenders: Alfred Angulo, Saul Alvarez, Pawel Wolak.  Any of those fighters against Cotto would be a good match.  Or if Miguel gets another two wins, he could move up to Middleweight and take on Sergio Martinez.  If that is the case, Cotto might want to ask Margacheato for a few tips on how to put his wraps on.

Let’s take a look first at what’s good about Hopkins outside of technique.  Unlike so many other boxers in the biz, Hopkins (1) doesn’t dogdge tough fights -- for example Chad Dawson (30-1) -- and (2) is committed to giving fans exciting fights.

However more attention has been paid to B-Hop´s  pre-fight comments about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb:

“Forget this,” Hopkins said, pointing to his own dark skin. “[Donovan's] got a suntan. That’s all.”

That and other racial pronouncements got the media in a frenzy, and rightly so.  But for once you actually primtime coverage of this “Hopkins guy.”    Then the markedly more eloquent McNabb released a statement in response:

“Ill-informed statements such as the perplexing one Mr. Hopkins muttered recently are dangerous and irresponsible. It perpetuates a maliciously inaccurate stereotype that insinuates those African-Americans who have access to a wider variety of resources are somehow culturally different than their brethren.”

And the scandal continues.  Journalist Jenice Armstrong a few days ago was still simmering:

“It’s time that people stop with this stuff.

It’s damaging and just plain wrong.

So, excuse me if I get irked when ignorant people start with the blacker-than-thou thing.“

Sure, someone should be calling Hopkins out on these sorts of statements, but it’s frustrating when his words are what’s getting all the attention.

In offending people, Hopkins stirred hype -- surely his intention -- and potentially get more people to watch the fight.  In the past he’s tried to hype upcoming fights by saying MMA is gay porn (Roy Jones Jr. II), he’d never let a white boy knock him out (Pavlik), then said it again it (Calzaghe).  None of those seemed to work.  This one did.   And now his comments are stealing the spotlight from Hopkin’s ceberal version of the sweet sceince, as it did in the New York Times article about him.  The only  conversation about the actual fight I could find was between Hopkins and ESPN’s Tony Atlas.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZxS9JgxOQ

So Atlas holds that Hopkins won with a jab and range?  Because new fighters don’t learn “the basics”?  Since when did gyms stop teaching footwork?  All the respect Atlas may proclaim, he just poo-poos Hopkin’s performance.  No mention of his cardio, at 46 and a light heavyweight, hardly looking tired, even in the later rounds (and okay some of that comes with dominating the fight).  Not even a mention of Hopkins’ over-the-top shenigans.

When he fights again next year, will sports fans still claim that if Pacquiao doesn’t fight Mayweather boxing is forever finished?  Maybe boxing, like the novel, boxing will die a really, really long death.  People will still be saying it’s over, like they did when it went to the theaters, then TV, then PPV, or wherever we’ll be watching it in the future;  maybe Hopkins will still be there stirring up trouble, running his mouth, and winning with that same mean cross-counterpunch.

Does that mean this will be bad fight?  Not at all, but it’s still MMA’s top talent versus boxing’s has-been.  This is reminiscent of the last MMA-boxing crossover with the tubby, old, and washed-up, James Toney.

Sure they’re fun, but MMA-boxing crossovers don’t make much sense.  You’re saying that someone who is accustomed to fighting a maximum of twenty minutes, is dying to fight for twice that?  Thanks to the four ounce gloves, first round KOs aren’t just prized but are expected – and that’s why we like MMA.  But boxing is a whole different ball game.  I can promise you Nick Diaz won’t be wondering around the ring waiting for the decision with blood all over his face.

The idea that we’re seeing just who is the baddest is ludicrous.  These are two sports with very different rules.  I think everyone who doesn’t practice a combat sport goes around with the notion that these guys are fighting as they would on the street, but if we were really on the street, what are the chances that (1) this person isn’t armed (2) this person won’t poke you in the eye, or kick you in the groin, or kick you in the head when you’re down (this latter is probably guranteed I would say).

That said,  I would like to see how Nick Diaz handles the marathon pro-boxing fight, even if he only won one professional boxing match in a decision to a fall-down guy, Alfonso Rocha (7-4).

Although, I’ve agreed with bits of Dana White’s criticism’s about the boxing industry, I don’t think he treats his fighters very well.  The whole sport has become only about what the audience wants.  Well, shouldn’t the audience care about their fighters?  Everybody has a bad day, but dumping people because they showboat or they don’t win one time.

In case it does happen, I say Diaz could win by decision.  Lacy lost his last three of four fights, one to the aging, sluggish, ready-to-retire, Roy Jones Jr; and another to Jermain Taylor, who lost so badly in the Super-Six tournament last year it’s likely he won’t ever be back in the ring.  Of course, most MMA fans don’t know that because they don’t follow boxing.  They also don’t know that Lacy hasn’t been a name in boxing since Chuck Liddell was in UFC.

Still, the Pac-Man is somehow always entertaining, from his pearly smile, right down to his flying left hook. Whether Mosley can weather the Pacquiao flurry of punches, if he can muster up any of the old “Sugar Shane”, is up in the air.

I thought it’d be a good time to remember Pacquiao’s best fights, before we watch what is likely to be a mediocre one.

5) Pac v. David Diaz

David Diaz, former lightweight champ, brought his wily Chi-town street skills up against the man from Manila’s haggard left.  The result: a bloody, bruised and dazed Diaz.  In the post-fight interview Diaz says something like, He’s fucking fast.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtqDCOfoLDk

4) Pac v.  Marco Antonio Barrera I

Back before Manny became the unstoppable machine he is today, he was still an unstoppable machine, with the occasional bad day.  Here he both fighters get knocked down once, but Manny gets the upper hand, before Barrera’s corner calls it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwwtz99gTaI

3) Pac. v. Juan Manuel Marquez I

Regardless of whether Marquez deserves a third fight against Pac, this fight is fantastic, and in the end, both fighters look like they’ve had their faces tenderized.  They are both flash- fast, accurate and quick to make use of any opening they see; amazing thing is, they just keep finding them.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VxGTSzYCCE

2) Pac v. Erik Morales II

Man, you’ve got to give it to Morales.  This guy has got a chin made of titanium.  This younger, faster Morales gets the upper hand early on in the fight, but Pac starts to pick up momentum until, as this clip shows, he starts getting into a rhythm.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur_vR0aQRhc

1) Pac. v. Marquez II

Here, in contrast to their earlier fight, Manny seems to be the stronger puncher in this fight. Even the some dozen punishing power punches that hit Pac right on the chin, doesn’t seem to faze him.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVStmLCoH30