Marvin Sonsona takes on Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. Saturday night in Puerto Rico / Photo © Giordano Ciampini

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Andrew Fruman previews Saturday night's 122lb match-up featuring Marvin Sonsona and Wilfredo Vasquez Jr.

It’s safe to say boxing fans can expect fireworks Saturday night in Bayomon Puerto Rico when a couple of promising up and comers tangle in a mouth watering junior-featherweight clash.

It wasn’t too long ago that the top of the 122lb chart was stacked with established stars, but with the migration of several top battlers to the featherweight class, and a couple others likely moving up in the near future, the door is opening for new talent to step up and make a name for themselves.

Enter Filipino Marvin Sonsona and Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vasquez Jr.

Besides the obvious implications of grabbing a belt, the match-up between the young sluggers is most appealing from an action standpoint.

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Joshua Clottey takes on Manny Pacquiao next month / Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com

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Michael Nelson takes a look at the the strengths and weaknesses of Joshua Clottey, and assesses why the Ghanaian welterweight poses the toughest challenge for Manny Pacquiao since Juan Manuel Marquez.

While Clottey's unfulfilled potential may have some underrating his ability, the reputation that he finds a way to lose has legs underneath it; he has three losses in fights he appeared to have the upper hand in.

Against Carlos Baldomir, he was disqualified in a bout he was winning handily. Many observers had him ahead four rounds to nil against Margarito before going long stretches without offering resistance to Antonio's torrent of punches. And he took his foot off the pedal against a reeling Miguel Cotto last June.  The Ghanaian's theatrical reactions to getting fouled - many of them displayed against Cotto - doesn't win him many fans either.

But none of that changes the fact that he's a superb talent. And he has strengths that will make him far more competitive than Cotto was against Manny Pacquiao - namely, a tight guard, granite chin, and multi-dimensional attack.

Miguel Cotto, a converted southpaw, is left-hand dominant. While he possesses a sharp jab and punishing left hook, he doesn't have a dynamic right hand. A right hand less threatening than the left is a characteristic shared by Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya, Pacquiao's two opponents prior to the Puerto Rican star. The size of the role this has played in how dominant Pacquiao has been since his evenly fought 2008 battle with Juan Manuel Marquez can be debated, but it's clearly something that Manny and Freddie Roach don't have a problem fully exploiting.

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Yusaf Mack - Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com

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Michael Nelson previews Friday night's FNF main-event between Glen Johnson and Yusaf Mack.

Three months ago, a clash between Glen Johnson and Yusaf Mack would have been more than worthy as a Friday Night Fights headliner, but not necessarily one with a great deal of intrigue or mystery. The Road Warrior would have been a prohibitive favorite, coming off a strong performance against Chad Dawson and a dominant win over Daniel Judah.

But Johnson's lackluster performance in his rematch with Bad Chad adds a whole lot more intrigue to tomorrow night's fight in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Was Johnson's inability to get off due to improvements in Dawson's game or was it father time finally sinking his claws into the 41 year old's reflexes and legs?

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Juan Manuel Lopez - Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com

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Michael Nelson previews Saturday night's featherweight match-up between Juan Manuel Lopez and Steve Luevano.

Check out Bad Left Hook for Fight Night Coverage of Lopez vs Luevano and Gamboa vs Mtagwa.

The questions answered during Juan Manuel Lopez' dominant performance over Gerry Penalosa last April will need to be revisited tonight in Madison Square Garden, against featherweight WBO titlist Steven Luevano. Namely, how will the sometimes one-dimensional Puerto Rican puncher deal with a sharp boxer?

While Lopez did a fine job displaying a multi-faceted attack while steamrolling the smaller Penalosa, there are key differences between Penalosa and Luevano.

For one, the 28 year old Los Angeles, California native will be the first skilled opponent that's noticeably bigger than Lopez. And while Luevano has a KO percentage that resides below 40, he has enough pop to stagger or drop a reckless foe. If Juanma doesn't attack intelligently, he may end up on his pants.

Two, Penalosa spent much of the bout last year on the ropes while Lopez teed off on him, taking apart the older man's guard with thudding body punches and searing uppercuts. Luevano will use his feet far more than Gerry did. Ideally, he'll be looking to set up traps while circling away from Lopez' vaunted right hook.

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Photo © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com

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By Lee Payton

Nearly a year has passed since Shane Mosley stepped between the ropes for a prizefight. A shame really, since the 38 year old Welterweight Champion was born to be a professional boxer. Chasing irresistible money and opportunities to enhance a proud fistic legacy left him in the gym with no fight for way too long. He just couldn't get Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather to put pen on paper. No shock there...

Whether it was big business or 39 knockouts in 46 wins, neither mega-star wanted any part of Sugar Shane. Can't really blame them, I suppose. Making a deal to fight the green-eyed demon who took Antonio Margarito's soul last time out doesn't make much sense for anyone.

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Photos © Marty Rosengarten / Ringsidephotos.com / Joshua Clottey appears to be next up for Manny Pacquiao.

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By Ron Pegram – The Casual Fan

In the following post, don’t expect historical analysis, rigorous research or anything else other than the ‘off the cuff’ opinions of a guy who has watched boxing his entire life. If you ask me the same questions a week from now, I might answer you differently but this is my take on the situation today

Alright, I’m done with the steroid debate. It is what it is. Let’s talk about something a little more exciting – in moving on to fight Joshua Clottey, Manny Pacquiao may be taking on the biggest challenge of his career.

Don’t dismiss this fight because Clottey recently lost to Miguel Cotto, who has since been positively thumped by Manny Pacquiao. That’s ‘Amateur Night’ boxing analysis. This fight, if it comes off, will be more about willpower and the mastery of space within a boxing ring than who beat whom.

Manny Pacquiao is a master of the come-forward style. There are moments in his fights in which you realize the other opponent simply cannot resist him. Watch his first rematch with Erik Morales for an example of this. The early going was surprisingly competitive, but by the mid rounds, it was apparent that Morales could not hold Pacquiao off.

Despite a climb of several weight classes, the result was no different when Manny fought Miguel Cotto. Simply put, if you back up against Manny Pacquiao, you’re essentially shark bait in the ring.

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By Andrew Fruman

After almost a 10 month absence from the ring, middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik returns to action tomorrow night… and nobody appears to be all that enthused.

The rightful apathy for the Top Rank PPV is hardly a big surprise.  Plain and simple – the main event is a mismatch.

Pavlik's opponent, former Contender contestant Miguel Espino, has obviously been chosen because he's extremely unlikely to offer a strong challenge.  It's somewhat understandable that Pavlik is getting a soft touch given his recent health issues and inactivity, but as a fan...how do you get excited about a fight like that?  Unless you're a huge Kelly Pavlik supporter, it's not possible.

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Photo © Ray Kasprowicz / Paulie Malignaggi faces off against Juan Diaz tonight.

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Carlos Acevedo previews tonight's junior-welterweight rematch between Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Diaz.

Paulie Malignaggi, who woofed his way into a rematch--and another major payday--against Juan Diaz tonight on neutral turf in Chicago, Illinois, will get his chance to avenge all the "bullshit" shoveled on him last August when he dropped a unanimous decision to Diaz over twelve rounds.

The first bout, justified or not, ended in a conflagration. Texas provided the nitroglycerin; a close fight supplied the fuse, and doddering Gale Van Hoy helpfully offered the match to set off the works. When his scorecard of 118-110 was announced after twelve rounds of competitive boxing, all of cyberspace went up in flames, and Malignaggi, in thick Brooklynese, played ambulance chaser during his postfight interview with Max Kellerman.

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