LONDON -- Remember what you were doing at 19? For me it was a melting pot of playing pickup basketball and meeting girls. I had a part-time job and, you know, tried to study a little in between.
LAS VEGAS -- The faded champion getting served up to the young lion is a cruel tradition as old as boxing itself.
LAS VEGAS -- He is boxing's greatest heel since Jack Johnson, the undisputed king of convincing people to pay to watch him lose.
LAS VEGAS -- Sometime next week Floyd Mayweather will cash a check for something in the neighborhood of $32 million. Later, when all the pay-per-view buys are counted, he will deposit another check -- and another, and another -- pushing his total purse for Saturday night's fight against Miguel Cotto (9 p.m. ET, HBO PPV) to well over $35 million. Just another day at the office for Mayweather, the most financially successful athlete in sports.
When Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, purchased the rival Strikeforce promotion for a reported $40 million in March 2011, it also inherited a Showtime broadcast deal set to expire in early 2012.
There is a certain rhythm to Andre Ward's game, a musical elegance gifted only to the finest performers. The technical brilliance is there, a product of a 10-year amateur career that culminated with an Olympic gold medal in 2004. There is the strength and power, quickness and speed, a perfect blend of skills that have, thus far, made Ward unbeatable at the pro level. He is, as Carl Froch put it on Saturday night, moments after Ward beat him for the Super Six title, "a slippery eel," hard, if not impossible, to cleanly hit, a fighter without concussive power but, at 168 pounds, physically stronger than the rest. He's something else, too: SI.com's 2011 Fighter of the Year.
updated: Fri Sep 16 2011 23:39:00
24/7 Mayweather/Ortiz premieres Sat., Aug., 27 only on HBO. It all leads up to their live fight on Sat., Sept. 17
When Piers Morgan pointed out that "Vicious" Victor Ortiz will be "facing a guy that has beaten just about everyone that's come in front of him," the boxing champ told the CNN host, "Fear doesn't even exist in my dictionary anymore. It was one of those things where my upbringing alone got rid of all that."
updated: Thu Sep 01 2011 06:27:00
Boxer Victor Ortiz talks to Piers Morgan about his childhood, where both his parents left him when he was growing up.
"I recognize that there are certain issues that I need to work on," he says
The questions are the same, the phrasing and the people asking are the only things that vary.
I will never forget my recent USO tour to Kuwait and Iraq.
1. Boxing will finally get Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. It has been derailed by everything from drug testing to legal issues, but in 2011 the world will get the one fight everyone wants to see. While Pacquiao is training for his May 7 date with Shane Mosley, Mayweather will settle (or at least put off) his legal problems, making both available for a November fight. The hype for the showdown between boxing's top two will be unprecedented and more than 100,000 fans will buy tickets at Cowboys Stadium. Mayweather-Pacquiao will shatter the pay-per-view record, exceeding 2.5 million buys and finishing as the most-watched boxing event in history.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. was arrested at a Las Vegas casino on a misdemeanor battery charge after he allegedly assaulted a security guard at his housing complex, a police official said Friday.
The auditions are over, the field is set. Over the past two weeks, fighters have been submitting their metaphorical resumes to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum with performances in the ring (Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Andre Berto) and out (Shane Mosley).
For the last nine decades, Madison Square Garden has earned the label of the Mecca of Boxing. Home to historic fights like Joe Louis-Rocky Marciano, Emile Griffith-Benny Paret and Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier, the Garden has been the destination for fighters and promoters wishing to make a name for themselves in New York City.
Floyd Mayweather is a bully, one neatly wrapped in a cut 5-foot-8, 147-pound package. Like most bullies, Mayweather is intimidating. He sends promoters, managers and networks cowering in the corner with the mere threat of withholding his services. He holds the boxing world hostage by saying he will take his gloves and go home unless the fight isn't when he wants, where he wants and at what weight he wants. He perpetuates a lie -- like the one about his advisor, Al Haymon, not being involved in negotiations with Manny Pacquiao -- because he is confident in the fact that no one in the industry will stand up to him.
One minute, Dr. Bernadine Healy was a perfectly healthy woman, in bed with her husband watching the Oscar De La Hoya fight on HBO. A few hours later, she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
updated: Mon Jun 14 2010 09:39:00
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen tells us what everyone should know about cancer.
LAS VEGAS -- It's hard not to like Floyd Mayweather. He's outgoing and outspoken, a reporter's dream. His bravado is public but his philanthropic work -- the life skills course he taught at the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, the visits he made to battered women and children shelters, the hundreds of thousands of dollars he has personally invested in his foundation -- are largely private.
LAS VEGAS -- Every punch Shane Mosley throws in the gym nowadays has a purpose, as if he is trying to knock out some of the misfortune of his past.
The many supporters of Floyd Mayweather Jr. choose to see one of boxing's all-time great small men and the most dominant pound-for-pound fighter in a generation, a fistic surgeon who's never been in trouble in his career, much less been defeated in 40 paying fights.
1. Manny Pacquiao cemented his legacy as one of history's greatest fighters.
Throughout a brilliant 16-year professional career, Shane Mosley has always conducted himself with the utmost class. Mild mannered and well spoken, Mosley is a journalist's dream, the kind of athlete you begin an interview feeling ambivalent and end it rooting for him to succeed. Mosley has always been the underdog, a fighter who has spent his life living in the shadow of Oscar De La Hoya (who "Sugar" has defeated twice) and never getting adequate recognition for his achievements.
The mythical mantle of pound-for-pound champion is the most prestigious title in the fight game, perhaps because no sanctioning body can confer, revoke or validate it. There's a purity of essence to it. Only by winning the hearts and minds of the people can a contender be regarded as the greatest in the sport regardless of weight.
Arturo Gatti won't be remembered by anyone for his superior boxing skills. His name won't be recalled for the handful of titles he won over the course of a 16-year career. And, to be fair, Gatti won't be canonized as one of the greatest fighters in his weight class. But he will be remembered for one thing, something perhaps no fighter will ever be able to match.
The retirement is over. Floyd Mayweather is back. The question is why?
LAS VEGAS -- We're baaaack. You missed The Blog, didn't you? Well, here we are, sitting at a wobbly folding table blanketed by a cheap black tablecloth four rows from ringside at the MGM Grand Arena to bring you play by play and instant analysis from the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton junior welterweight title fight.
In sports, there are two types of fans. There are regular fans -- a group that ranges from the tailgating, body-painting and opposition-cursing diehards, to the corporate 9-to-5'ers who knock back a couple of pints at the local bar a few hours before a game before taking their seats, donning freshly purchased jerseys. These fans are loyal. Most eat, sleep and drink their local team, and some will even pack a duffel bag on occasion and make a road trip.
Manny Pacquiao has established himself as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport of boxing today.
At a press conference to promote Saturday's WBC super middleweight title fight, a table at the front of the room was tightly packed with promoters, trainers, managers and various network and hotel executives. And, of course, there were the fighters. Well, at least one fighter for sure.
As he sat inside an ambulance carrying Oscar De La Hoya from the MGM Grand last December, the concern for De La Hoya was written all over Richard Schaefer's face. Just moments earlier, Schaefer had witnessed De La Hoya, his business partner for the last eight years and the man who he helped build Golden Boy Promotions from the ground up, endure a savage, eight-round beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. It was the third of what Schaefer called "really bad fights" for De La Hoya, a string of events which began against Floyd Mayweather in May, 2007 ("he couldn't jab in that fight," said Schaefer), continued against Steve Forbes in May, 2008 ("he got hit more times than I have ever seen him get hit") and culminate against Pacquiao, a former lightweight champion who had jumped up two weight classes to face De La Hoya. As he stared at De La Hoya's reddened face and winced as he looked agonizingly at Oscar's closed left eye, Schaefer, as he has done so many times in the course of his
The first time I saw Oscar De La Hoya was at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. He was just 17, but already a highly touted prospect (back at a time when Americans actually paid attention to amateur boxers). Still, on a U.S. team that included Tim Austen, Shane Mosley, Raul Marquez and super heavyweight Larry Donald, the 126-pound high school kid was far from the only focus. For me that changed somewhere in the first round of his quarterfinal bout against Lee Sang-Hun of Korea.
Shane Mosley has spent the better part of his professional career fighting in someone else's shadow. First, it was Oscar De La Hoya, who Mosley defeated twice -- in 2000 and '03 -- but who he could never match in popularity. Then it was Floyd Mayweather Jr., who danced in and out of Mosley's weight class before dancing (literally) right off the boxing stage.
The left jab of Oscar De La Hoya was widely expected to be the difference-maker in his welterweight showdown with Manny Pacquiao, the lightweight champion making his first fight above the 135-pound limit.
So this is it. This is how it ends for Oscar De La Hoya. An eight-round beating at the hands of a man who to the naked eye looks to be half his size.
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 2. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
NEW YORK -- There was a moment Wednesday afternoon, when Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya stepped off the boat that carried the two fighters to Liberty Island, when you couldn't figure out which man was supposed to be the physically superior fighter. Sure, De La Hoya has a height advantage (the Golden Boy is listed at 5-foot-10½ while Pacquiao's 5-foot-6½ ). But as the two men walked side by side down the pier toward a throng of fans who had gathered to greet them, it was difficult to determine which fighter had the size advantage.
East L.A. -- birthplace of the lowrider, Los Lobos and Oscar de la Hoya -- is to Mexican-Americans what Harlem is to the black community. Now it wants to become its own city
I don't know, of course, what "Sugar" Shane Mosley is doing this Sunday afternoon. Maybe settling in to watch some football or getting a little work done around the yard. Or sneaking out for a round of golf. Or maybe he's counting the reported $1.5 million he was guaranteed for his bout last night against Ricardo Mayorga. Whatever he's up to, though, I hope the thought occurs to him that there are easier ways for a 37-year-old guy to make a living.
Boxing and mixed martial arts attract different audiences. In coming together Saturday, Golden Boy Promotions and Affliction Entertainment hope to fuse generations connected by little more than the love of a good fight.
In a sport where sanctioning bodies routinely manipulate the rankings to serve their interests, where networks permit promotional companies to dictate scheduling and where promoters allow a general distaste for one another to get in the way of making the best fights, is it possible that judging is the most corrupted part of boxing?
Ten-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya will make a decision on his next opponent by Thursday, Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez told SI.com.
Though rarely asked these days, the question "What is mixed martial arts?" was a common inquiry not too long ago. The best response came from Randy Couture: "Take elements of wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo, and you've got MMA."
BURBANK, Calif. -- Intent on making his last fight a "worldwide event," Oscar De La Hoya said that negotiations for a possible megafight with Manny Pacquiao, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, are not dead and that he is hopeful to make an official announcement on his final opponent either by the end of the week or early next week.
Greats like Ali and Foreman got their start with Olympic gold. Now US boxers are lucky to make the finals. What's wrong?
At 4 p.m. Wednesday, a contingent from Top Rank, led by CEO Bob Arum, will arrive at the Los Angeles offices of Golden Boy Promotions to begin -- and hopefully finalize -- negotiations with Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer for a December welterweight bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Paquiao.
The already battered sport of boxing took another body blow when Floyd Mayweather Jr. walked away from the ring (and a potential $25 million fight with Oscar De La Hoya) last month.
Sitting in a private room tucked inside of Café Pinot, an upscale restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, Oscar De La Hoya ignores the plates of crab cakes, steak and chicken around him as he opens up a small package of blueberries.
With 38 professional wins, 10 world championships in six weight classes and an Olympic gold medal on his resume, one would think Oscar De La Hoya's legacy is secure.
Four months. It took four whole months for me to break my first New Year's resolution, but I am about to do it. I'm going to write about Floyd Mayweather.
Can a piece of paper save a marriage? One suburban Boston couple figured it was worth trying so they entered into a legal agreement to manage a major source of tension in their relationship - money.
Even in the world of professional wrestling, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still undefeated.
It was supposed to be the defining moment of Juan Manuel Marquez's career, yet in the end, it wasn't defining at all.
NEW YORK -- I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't know what to make of Roy Jones.
Floyd Mayweather grabbed the boxing spotlight May 5 in Las Vegas and he has yet to relinquish it. With a less than stunning showing but more than decisive victory over Oscar de la Hoya that night, Mayweather kicked off a year in which he accumulated more than $50 million in ring performances. He also developed thousands of new fans for his slick footwork out of it (Or maybe you missed Dancing with the Stars).
Oscar de la Hoya and Millie Corretjer have welcomed their second child together, Nina Lauren Nenitte de la Hoya, born Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the couple have announced.
In the sport of boxing, Floyd Mayweather is without peer. He is an unparalleled champion, a fighter with multiple talents to go along with his multiple personalities. On Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather (39-0) put on a boxing clinic against welterweight pretender, er, contender Ricky Hatton, out-boxing the former junior welterweight champion before flattening Hatton with a series of combinations that left the former undefeated Brit wondering why he even bothered stepping into the ring in the first place. After the fight ended, Mayweather embraced his challenger as a friend and praised him for his efforts, calling Hatton "the best I have ever fought."
Boxer Ricky Hatton loves to eat, drink beer and throw darts. But if he can upset Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas, he'll be the toast of Britain
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 3. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
They've ping-ponged between love and loathing – twice! – but Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler have been giving their romance one more chance. And the two recently marked their third wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway.
One of the loudest criticisms of boxing -- usually levied by advocates of mixed martial arts -- is that the sport is dominated by aging stars. For the most part, the critics are correct. Oscar de la Hoya (34), Floyd Mayweather (30), Wladimir Klitschko (31) and Shane Mosley (36) are all on the wrong side of 30. They are also still the biggest draws, with De La Hoya-Mayweather breaking every box office record and Klitschko leveling every young fighter left dangling in his path.
NEW YORK -- Shane Mosley is a well-credentialed man. The former lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight champion has a resume most fighters only dream of. He is arguably the most dominant lightweight in history, having run up a 32-0 record (with 30 knockouts) before leaving the division behind. He has beaten Oscar de la Hoya twice, and after a brief stint at super welterweight, Mosley returned to the welterweight division in 2005 and has put together five consecutive victories.
It wasn't a motion typical of sports. It wasn't a motion typical of anything, save, perhaps, the carnival game where a contestant slams a hammer down to send a weight hurtling skyward toward a bell.
I suppose I could have tried to make a bigger splash in my first foray into participatory journalism by challenging Barry Bonds to a home run contest or approaching Kobe Bryant about a game of H-O-R-S-E. But these days Bonds is busy chasing that Aaron fellow and Bryant is trying to prove that USA basketball is still a player on the global landscape. Not that either one them would have taken my phone calls. Still, when I first approached Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions in April about taking on one of their golden boys, WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, I was surprised by how willing they were to fly Marquez across the continent to step in the ring with a novice. "That's a great idea!" they said. "When do you want to fight him?"
Shanna Moakler loves her post-baby body and insists there is no Hollywood secret to being thin.
I suppose I could have tried to make a bigger splash in my first foray into participatory journalism by challenging Barry Bonds to a home run contest or approaching Kobe Bryant about a game of H-O-R-S-E. But these days Bonds is busy chasing that Aaron fellow and Bryant is trying to prove USA Basketball is still a player on the global landscape. Not that either one them would have taken my phone calls.
Shanna Moakler's most recent split from husband Travis Barker has been "devastating," she tells PEOPLE.
The consensus leading up to the light heavyweight fight between Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright was that fans plunking down $50 would witness a maddeningly methodical, clutching-and-grabbing defensive struggle that would have the crowd in Las Vegas booing by the seventh round. What they actually saw was a maddeningly methodical, clutching-and-grab defensive fight that had the crowd booing by the seventh round -- and periodically voicing their frustration in the subsequent rounds of Hopkins' unanimous decision over Wright.
It wasn't a motion typical of sports. It wasn't a motion typical of anything, save, perhaps, the carnival game where a contestant slams a hammer down to send a weight hurtling skyward toward a bell.
For the fourth straight year, Sports Illustrated set out to rank the 50 top-earning American athletes (taking into account on and off the field income), and it's no surprise to see the familiar names at the top of the list. In fact, there are dozens of trends and storylines that make this year's incarnation of the Fortunate 50 one of the most interesting we've ever compiled.
Last weekend was weird, wasn't it? Notwithstanding the usual plethora of basketball and hockey playoff games, Barry Bonds hitting another home run, Tiger Woods winning another tournament and Spiderman opening another movie, it was retro. It was up memory lane. It was the 1950s. It was your grandfather's weekend. It was horse racing and boxing on top together -- the Run for the Roses and a title fight that mattered.
And so, having finally attracted a little mainstream attention again, has boxing squandered another opportunity. With all eyes upon the sport -- well, more eyes than usual -- it produced an event of not much drama, little excitement and no satisfying conclusion. And even for somebody who found the semispectacle satisfying, there was no possibility of another one with even this much promise. The winner immediately announced his retirement, and the loser, who doesn't fight much anyway (or win much anymore), was ambivalent about his future in the ring.
LAS VEGAS -- Nearly 24 hours have passed since Saturday night's epic battle between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. The crowds have thinned out (or as much as they can in a casino) and the celebrities have all gone home.
The rumblings of the jet engine are deafening, but for Oscar De La Hoya they're as soothing as an ocean breeze. As he settles into one of the plush leather seats on the Gulfstream G-4 -- one of two $14 million planes leased by his promotion company, Golden Boy, to carry him and Floyd Mayweather Jr., his opponent in Saturday's megafight, on a nine-day, 11-city promotional tour -- he can finally be at peace. Why? Well, for starters, it's one of the few times during the day he can put some much-needed distance between himself and Mayweather, against whom he will defend his WBC super welterweight crown and vie for the title of boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter. "I love being able to interact with people, to shake their hands and sign autographs," says De La Hoya. It's the other stuff that gets a little old. "Sometimes when I'm sitting onstage listening to Floyd run his mouth, I think to myself, Hey, I don't need this."
Oscar De La Hoya, the most acclaimed boxer of his era, has a loving family and a budding business empire. He needs one more victory to gild his Hall of Fame career -- and wants one more whopping payday.
Special from SI Latino
Also in this column: SI.com's boxing gurus make their picks.
If television executives flooded the airwaves with more reality programs, would viewers tune in?
Boxing is a bruised and battered sport. But it is about to get its best exposure since the first "Rocky" movie: both Fox and NBC plan new boxing-themed reality programs next season.
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