Don King back in boxing?

"We've been talking about his future and where he wants to go and what he wants to do. Right now he's not sure what he wants to do. ... For him it's all a matter of the disrespect that he's feeling and them not listening to him," King said. "It's all about pride and dignity. I understand him completely because we share a common background as rising from the ghetto. He wants his dignity, his respect and his pride to remain intact and he wants to get paid. That's where I come in. I'm the mix master." -King


Currently, Mayweather is under employ to no one in boxing. He has worked with Golden Boy Promotions for his last four bouts, and Al Haymon has served as an adviser, as well. But he has no manager, has no official promoter, and operates under a "Mayweather Promotions" banner that is, for all intents and purposes, mostly irrelevant, since it's his company and really doesn't do anything without Mayweather on the card anyway.
I would be skeptical of Mayweather -- who has flirted with hiring King in the past -- actually signing on to be a Don King-promoted fighter in a traditional sense. But the way King is making it sound, Mayweather is unhappy with someone who is representing him right now, whether it be Golden Boy, Haymon, or both. King may be an incredibly far cry from the promoter he was in his most successful days, but he still has name recognition, and there's not a lot of work to put in if you're talking about Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather could simply be considering having King and the DKP people help in negotiations.
Of course, this is just what it is for the time being, which is King saying that they might work together sometime. There's nothing concrete about it or anything like that. King says he's confident that he can work with Bob Arum and Top Rank to make a fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, while also stroking Mayweather's ego and assuring him that he doesn't need Pacquiao.

Juan Manuel Marquez VS Manny Pacquiao?

Manny Pacquiao:"The trilogy with Pacquiao is what I want," said Marquez, who fought the Filipino star to a 2004 draw and lost a split-decision to him in 2008. "It's what everyone wants to see. It's good for all the fight fans. The Mexicans, the Filipinos all want to see it. I'll be ready to fight in November, so hopefully Pacquiao will take the fight."

Pacquiao isn't expected to. Blown off by Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao has already agreed to fight Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 in a 154-pound bout.

Amir Khan: This fight has been discussed a lot this year. There was an attempt to put it together for July 31, but Marquez took the rematch with Diaz instead, which was a wise comeback fight. Khan, meanwhile, totally dominated Paul Malignaggi this spring and wants a fight with Marquez. I figure Khan and his trainer, Freddie Roach, see an old, undersized fighter who won't have the speed to keep up with Amir, plus Marquez would have to move up to 140 to make the fight happen.
The pros center on the fact that it would be a good payday, and outside of something like the Mayweather fight, Marquez is too crafty, too gutsy and too great to be counted out. Khan's chin has not gotten better, and Marquez throws with intent to do damage on just about everything he unleashes anymore. Working in Khan's favor would be the fact that he'd have a significant height advantage, plus that Khan may well have the fastest hands in boxing today. He has done a great job taking advice from Freddie Roach and learning to stay out of the pocket, using his natural skills. In short, Roach has (as he usually does) accentuated the positives and done his best to eliminate the negatives.
Michael Katsidis: God knows Katsidis wants to fight Marquez, and feels that JMM blatantly has ducked him. It is, in my mind, the best fight that can be made at 135 pound. Katsidis has shown true improvement since his disastrously poor performance and gameplan against Juan Diaz in 2008, and looked absolutely savage taking apart Kevin Mitchell in May. My feeling is that Katsidis has earned this fight, Marquez shouldn't fight over 135 if we're simply talking about in-ring benefits and not worrying about possible paydays, and that Marquez-Katsidis is the best fight out there for JMM. It could be a magnificent fight, too. Katsidis loves to come straight forward, and Marquez is best when he gets to throw counters. Could he hurt Katsidis the same way he hurt Diaz last year? Sure, he could. But Katsidis is a much harder puncher than Diaz, too. A lot of people (myself included) feel that if Diaz were a bigger puncher, the 2009 bout and maybe even last night's could have gone much, much differently. Marquez-Katsidis would be a war. A dangerous fight for Marquez, but that's what champions should take.
Erik Morales: This is unlikely, but Morales has said he wants the fight, and Marquez has seemed open to it when it's been brought up. It would do big money with the Mexican audience, perhaps, but I think a lot of that would be sort of a "thank you" in PPV buy form to Morales and Marquez for their excellent careers. Morales is younger than Marquez, but completely shot as a fighter and it would not be competitive.
Ricky Hatton: Another one that seems unlikely right now. This has been discussed as a stadium fight in Manchester, but right now Ricky Hatton is showing no real desire to get back in the ring. He's focusing on Hatton Promotions and doing a good job getting his firm off the ground. I'm not sure there's a great deal of U.S. interest in Hatton anymore, either. It would be a very tough PPV sell here, and probably an expensive fight for HBO to air on World Championship Boxing.

Congratulations Juan Manuel Marquez!

Mexico's Marquez, 36, who beat Diaz (35-4) by ninth-round knockout last year in a bout voted fight of the year by the Boxing Writers Assn. of America, met Diaz's charging style head on, landing hard jabs and rights that slowed the younger man's attempts. He outlanded Diaz in all 12 rounds, connecting on 288 punches to Diaz's 155.

"I fought the best fight I could," Diaz said. "I didn't want to stand in front of him. The game plan was to get in there, go in, get off combinations, step around him and get out."

Diaz's broken lip showed he wasn't successful.

"It was hard," Diaz said. "I got hit with a couple of hard shots. He's a very tough fighter, a great fighter. I was in there with the best."

Marquez crushed Diaz with a fourth-round right uppercut, and even as his right eye swelled from some highly entertaining exchanges in the first half of the bout, Marquez remained undeniably willing to stand firm in the face of Diaz's pursuit, landing a brutal right as the challenger barged ahead in the ninth. Diaz had no choice but to finally back up.


.... Please see the fight til next weeks further post!


-DCorn